Australia’s Gaming Industry Is Weathering COVID-19 Just Fine, For Now

Video games have proved to be incredibly resilient in today’s COVID-19 world, and according to a new survey from Australia’s main video game association that resilience has flowed through to local development.

A survey from IGEA, representatives for video game publishers and developers in Canberra, has shown that Australian devs are largely remaining stable during the current crisis. Out of the 49 studios that replied to the survey, 84 percent were not considering making any redundancies, while 61 percent of respondents said their costs remained largely unchanged.

It wasn’t all a rosy outlook: while 44 percent of surveyed developers have enjoyed an uptick in sales over the coronavirus period, 29 percent had suffered a drop in reduced revenues from contracts. Another 37 percent said they had directly lost money following the cancellation of trade shows and business events, while 20 percent said they had trouble accessing government funding, loans and private investment.

The infographic is largely a push from IGEA and the local video game industry to remind federal politicians of the value developers provide to the Australian economy. The most recent industry study for the 2018-19 financial year found that Australian studios generated $143.5 million, with over 1200 Australians employed as full-time or full-time equivalents. The figures don’t include all Australian developers – some studios have opted not to contribute to the survey in the past – but it’s a good indication of how Australia manages to punch above their weight given the lack of federal support the industry receives.

[referenced url=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/11/the-aussie-gaming-scene-is-officially-growing/” thumb=”https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/09/legoose-410×231.jpg” title=”The Aussie Gaming Scene Is Officially Growing” excerpt=”It’s been a good year for Aussie games — Goose Game quite obviously — but for the scene as a whole, it’s been a solid year too.”]


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