Essential Facts about the Canadian Videogame Industry
The Entertainment Software Association of Canada has released a very interesting report on the state of the videogame industry in Canada. The number that screams out is the average age of gamers: 39. Seems crazy high, until you realize this takes into account anyone who has played a computer or console game in the past year, so it includes someone who logged onto yahoo games once for a game of scrabble. Which is still a game, though – I’m not saying that the numbers are suspect. Rather, it’s good to get a reminder that our medium reaches a much more diverse group than you would often think.
Other facts of interest:
- 58% male, 42% female
- 40% of Canadian households own a console
- 46% of Canadian adults have played a game in the past month
- only 25% of those on a console
- role playing games are more popular than shooters
- ‘action’ is the most popular genre. What exactly is an action game?
- 20% of the top-selling North American games are developed in Canadian studios. Considering that Canada’s population is one tenth that of the US, that’s not bad.
- yearly growth in spending is expected to be 21% in Canada this year, higher than the US 16%. Could just be the dollar though.