Video Gaming is set to take off Down Under as new games are launched on a daily basis, and a growth of 11.9 percent ($433 million) is being forecast for 2011.Business Anaslysts IBISWorld, which researched 500 companies set to fly or fall in Australia, says Video Gaming, said to be worth around $4 billion this year, is second only to Organic Farming as a sector which can expect exceptional growth this year.
The teenage fad is said to be spreading among older generations, and has seen phenomenal retail spending on games and consoles over the past few years, with the sector growing by 16 percent annually during the last five years, according to the company.
The popularity of Call of Duty: Black Ops for the PSP and XBox 360 and long awaited Donkey Kong Country for the Wii is also finding its way into new audiences.
Robert Bryant, general manager at IBISWorld, says one of the more noticeable trends is the rise of female gamers, who have opened up additional avenues for revenue as a burgeoning audience.
Despite the boom in the video gaming industry Down Under, Video Hire Outlets like Blockbusters are set to decline, however.
IBISWorld forecasts tough times ahead for Australia’s video hire outlets as the electronic distribution of video content, including Internet streaming and downloads (both legal and illegal), increases.
“Once customers may have been deterred from watching video content on a computer and still opt for video hire but that matter has been redefined with the online capabilities of video game consoles,” Bryant said.
“Other factors include the popularity of pay television and the increasing volume of free-to-air content via digital channels that is positioning itself more competitively to video hire stores.”
Video hire outlets are among the bottom 5 industries set to fly or fall in 2011.
