(press release)
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tom Crago, the new President of the Game Developers? Association of Australia (GDAA), the peak body for the Australian electronic game industry, today announced on the back of a record growth year in 2006, that it plans to have Australia regarded as one of the best locations for making games on the planet.
Crago made the announcement as many Australian companies descended on GDC in San Francisco [March 5-9, 2007] for one of the most important games meetings of the year globally.
Crago said the Australian industry was already mixing it with the best developers internationally. ?The great majority of our companies are primarily export oriented. Overall export revenues account for over 90% of total industry revenues,? Crago said.
?Right now around Australia we have in development most genres of game on every major platform, from high-end MMOG, through PlayStation3, Wii, handheld and mobile,? he said.
?Our diversity is actually one of the reasons we're increasingly becoming recognized as a game development hub.?
?There are close to 2000 people employed by game development studios in Australia at present, and most of us are hiring.?
Crago said: ?We've been doing this for a long time and 2007 will be an important year, with the first suite of Australian-developed titles coming out for the new generation consoles.?
?In 2007 we will see some of our newer companies release their first games, and some of our bigger companies making a serious splash with both new IP and big, established licenses.?
?By selling our strengths internationally we'll attract the best possible projects and in doing so start to see some genre-leading new IP making its way from Australia to the rest of the world.?
A recent study commissioned by the GDAA, the Queensland Government and Victorian Government shows the electronic game development industry is highly growth-oriented in outlook. Over 90% of companies expect to grow during the next three years. Central to this growth outlook is the expectation by over 70% of companies that they will increase their level of investment in intellectual property development over the next three years.
The report shows the Australian electronic game industry now generates revenues of approximately $110 million per annum and directly employs over 1600 people; a 60% increase on 3 years ago.
I think it's funny that the australian industry employs only 1600 people... do you know that EA Canada's vancouver studio alone employs more people than the entire game development industry of australia hahahah. I think they employ over 2000 people... Let's face it.. even though the dev industry has grown alot in the last 3 years it's tiny and minute...
Yet we continue to create excellent games, attract large license projects and make a splash in the greater worldwide scene. Not too shabby for a "tiny" and "minute" industry. Bigger isn't always better.
If Australia created the games that Vancouver created, we would be at the top of the world's development map. We are heading in the right direction, and that is what matters.
Just a question Shams, since you piqued my interest: what is the right direction exactly, and how is it being accomplished?
I noticed here that people tend to be a bit negative about the games industry here in Australia. My experience is it really is dependent on a per company basis, I've worked for one company that treated their employees pretty badly, slow on pays etc, another which treats their employees with a whole heap of extra perks.
I think when people talk about the local industry, they talk about it as a whole, not based on individual companies. They talk about what is happening in the "industry" and what is going to happen in the "industry." NOT, what is happening at the "studio" that you work at.
Some places are a head of the rest, are great places to work, and are progressive enough to see changes coming and at least try to adapt to them. Others are still good places to work, or at least for the majority of the staff that are there to work on a game and get paid, but, the studio doesn't have a clue as to what it should be doing or how. Other places are the arse-end of the industry, and don't treat the employees well and have no idea what they are doing but generally think they do or that they are the next big thing - this is most troubling when these guys try and act or portray themselves as industry leaders.
I sometimes wonder which one makes up the majority here in Australia... ?
Shams said:
"If Australia created the games that Vancouver created, we would be at the top of the world's development map. We are heading in the right direction, and that is what matters."
What's that Shams, the rallying cry in the face of inevitability? ;)
Isn't Australia responsible for the upcoming Bioshock ?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D
Responsible for Bioshock?! No way. You are thinking of the Boston Irrational Games team, NOT, the Canberra team. However, some may have had involvement with the game, BUT, the Canberra team is not where it is being developed.
BTW: not attacking IGA, they do good work. But credit due to where it is due.
Let's not become like those wankers on TV, who still claim that Mel Gibson is an Australian, even though he was born an American, moved here, started his career here, and then moved back to the states. Or even better yet, claiming credit for some New Zealand actor, who was perhaps born here, as a "true blue" ozzy - she was that little girl in that movie about Maori traditions that ended up a major hit, I think it had something to do about a lake or maybe whales...
That's just pathetic.
It is nearly as bad as those idiots that think because some digital effects company worked on a big hit movie, that it is apparantly "great" for the local film industry - like the movie was completely an Australian production and a major chunk of the box office takings went back to here instead of the US rather than the company getting paid a set amount for fee for service work.
The statistic of people in autsralia by comparison to EA alone frankly suprised me.
I was taught at school by someone in the industry, who said that Queensland was one of the better places to work. Although Queensland is one of the largest spots for developers in Australia, it may be better to still further expand other cities/states.
With further growth over different areas in Australia, there will be diversity not only in genre but in platform.
Different genres on different platforms will open up new positions.
Thus larger numbers.
Although I'm not sure what I'm on about, I would like to ask what exactly could be done to expand upon the industry in Canberra, WA, SA?
...Don't worry about Tasmania...
SA had ratbag and now krome studios melbourne, melbourne is well established, canberra has microforte and irrational games (irrational who produce pretty high profile games), wa haven't anyone established with titles yet but there are some promising studios. Sydney has only team bondi really (bad state government support in NSW) and tassie, well lets forget about tassie.
True,
Queensland and VIC governments are all about this cultural money thrower... Not sure what I'm saying, but France has something like it. If the project has cultural leanings, then the governement throws money at it. ergo, why VIC has the largest number.
I hate Victoria Bitter...
Haha so do most victorians, just because ya in victoria doesn't mean you have to drink Victoria Bitter, it's just a big joke that we play on tourists :)
That's ok... I don't live in Vic. I'm in Queensland at the moment... Plenty of Bundy Rum for everyone.
Victorians like to pretend they don't drink VB because they're embarassed to admit it ;)
I admit I used to drink VB in my younger (read under-age) years. But I went off it as soon as I grew taste buds. I reckon that's a common story here in Victoria. Thank God for Taz and SA beers!