Australian development industry booming

The Australian game development industry is undergoing ‘rapid growth’, according to statistics released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The stats show that the Australian game development industry generated an estimated $136.9 million in sales for the period of 2006-2007, although expenses came in close behind at $128.5m, leaving only $8.5m pre-tax profit. $$83.8 million of that was spent on labour costs – almost two thirds of the total expenditure.

“The Australian game development industry is growing at a rapid rate,” said Tom Crago, president of the Game Developers Association of Australia.

“We’re seeing year-on-year increases of around 15 per cent, which emphasises both the strength and potential of the industry here in Australia. In an environment where many other industries are contracting, Australian game development is going from strength to strength.”

The statistics also showed that over 1,400 people are employed in the game development industry in Australia across 45 different companies. 79.1 per cent of the 2006-07 revenue came from outside sources for the provision of game-development services, and only 1.2 per cent came from Government funding.

In terms of employee breakdown, the report revealed that almost 90 per cent of the workforce is male, with artists and animators contributing most towards that 1,400 headcount with 34.3 per cent. Programmers accounted for a further 29.1 per cent of the workforce, and 92.6 per cent of staff were permanent full-time employees

Greg Bondar, CEO of the GDAA, also highlighted that the figures presented in the report were an ‘underestimation’, given that it does not include companies ancillary to the industry such as production houses and audio providers.