International new release: Global Video Game Industry Calls Upon World Health Organisation To Reverse Video Game Classification

25 May 2019 The global video game industry—including representatives from across Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, South Africa, and Brazil—today called on World Health Organization (WHO) Member States to rethink their decision to include “Gaming Disorder” in the 11^thedition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).

The WHO is an esteemed organization and its guidance needs to be based on regular, inclusive, and transparent reviews backed by independent experts. ‘Gaming disorder’ is not based on sufficiently robust evidence to justify inclusion in one of the WHO’s most important norm-setting tools.

 

Statement from Global Video Game Industry Associations:

“There is significant debate among medical and professionals about today’s WHO action. We are concerned they reached their conclusion without the consensus of the academic community. The consequences of today’s action could be far-reaching, unintended, and to the detriment of those in need of genuine help.

“We encourage and support healthy game play by providing information and tools, such as parental controls, that empower billions of people around the world to manage their play to ensure it remains enjoyable and enriching. As with all good things in life, moderation is key and that finding the right balance is an essential part of safe and sensible play.”

 

The interactive entertainment industry plays a leading role in the development of emerging technologies, including virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence and big data analysis. It is significant in advancing in research science across many fields ranging from mental health, dementia, cancer, and pioneer advances in accessibility. At the same time, the industry developed world-class consumer protection tools including parental controls and responsible game-education initiatives to ensure the players are able to engage in the safest environments.

 

For further information, please contact:

Dan Hewitt for the Entertainment Software Association(USA), dhewitt@theesa.com

Corrine Crichlow for the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, ccrichlow@theesa.ca

Raelene Knowles for IGEA (Australia and New Zealand), raelene@igea.net

Heidi Lambert for ISFE (Europe), heidilambert@hlcltd.demon.co.uk

Estela Jeon for K GAMES (South Korea), estela@gamek.or.kr

Tim Scott for UKIE (United Kingdom), tim@ukie.ork.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

IGEA welcomes new Board member, Amy Roy of Nintendo and thanks Anthony Howitt for his contribution

Friday 24 May 2019.  At IGEA’S most recent Board meeting, Anthony Howitt from Nintendo resigned from his Board position. Anthony has served on the Board of IGEA for the past two years.

Given the vacany created by Anthony’s resignation, the Board appointed Amy Roy, In-House Legal Counsel for Nintendo Australia and New Zealand to fill the casual vacancy.  Amy has long held an active role on IGEA’s legal and policy committee, working closely with both IGEA and the rest of the legal and policy committee. Amy brings a strong knowledge on the wide array of issues facing the video game industry.

IGEA, its Board and members extend a warm welcome to Amy Roy as a Director. Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA said, “Amy has always been a valued contributor to the association on all issues relating to policy and we look forward to having her strategic advice and views on all of the complex issues we face as an industry going forward’

Amy Roy of Ninetndo said, “I am very much looking forward to working with the rest of the IGEA Board and supporting the ANZ industry as it works through the numerous issues under management now, and moreso as we look to the future.  One thing is certain, the industry is always undergoing change and I am committed to working with IGEA to ensure these changes are sustainable and help drive the local industry forward.“

IGEA would also like to take this chance to thank Anthony Howitt for his invaluable contribution to the Board over the last two years and for his time, commitment and advice he imparted at meetings and beyond.

2019 has been incredibly busy for IGEA with a significantly expanded our member base, especially from the local game development community.  This has allowed IGEA to increase its lobbying for game developer funding with State and Federal governments along with ongoing advocacy for issues that affect the entire ANZ games industries . In July of this year, we IGEA will launch Digital Australia and Digital New Zealand 2020 and expect to survey the size of the Australian game development industry.

 

About IGEA

IGEA is the industry association representing the business and public policy interests of Australian and New Zealand companies in the computer and video games industry. IGEA’s members publish, develop, market and/or distribute interactive games and entertainment content and related hardware including mobile and handheld games. For more information, please visit www.igea.net.

 

Media contact

Raelene Knowles, raelene@igea.net

May 13 – May 19, 2019

May 13 – May 19, 2019

May 13 – May 19, 2019

May 13 – May 19, 2019

Aussies love for video games continues to grow

Consumer spending breaks through the $4 billion mark

 

Sydney Australia, 23 May 2019 – The growth of the video game industry in Australia continues to go from strength to strength, with consumer spending breaking the $4 billion mark hitting $4.029 billion in the 2018 calendar year, a significant increase of 25 per cent from the previous year’s sales.

Australians’ ongoing love affair with video games is underscored by data released today by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA), which shows that total physical retail sales generated $1.179 billion and overall digital sales hit $2.851 billion last year, posting an increase of 39 per cent.

Key highlights include:

• The in-game digital purchase segment grew a staggering 190 per cent year-on-year, while digital full game revenue was also up by 20 per cent on 2017 sales
• Within overall digital sales, mobile is still one of the largest categories, posting 11 per cent revenue growth
• Physical retail sales reached $1.179 billion, a slight increase of 0.2 per cent
• Retail sales were bolstered by console accessories sales, up by 19 per cent

“The excitement for video games is continuing to grow, with phenomenal consumer sales in 2018,” said Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA. “Australia continues to experience video games sales growth, in line with trends similarly experienced by other countries, including the USA and the UK.

“In the coming months we will be releasing our biennial Digital Australia 2020 report, The Power of Games which will shine a spotlight on who plays games, why they play them, as well as offering insights into the use of games beyond pure entertainment.”

Research from Telsyte also revealed an upswing in total digital sales growth of 39 per cent to $2.851 billion, with the $3 billion mark well within reach. The biggest increase was experienced by sales of in-game digital extras, such as season passes, cosmetics and game expansions, which posted a whopping 190 per cent growth. Full digital download game revenue increased by 20 per cent on last year, while subscription revenue also continued on a growth trajectory, up 31 per cent in 2018.

According to Foad Fadaghi, Telsyte Managing Director, “Digital sales continue to impress with strong double-digit growth across downloads, mobile and subscriptions.  The standout was the digital in-game extras market which grew by almost 200 per cent, driven by Fortnite, which continues to be a social phenomenon”.

Bolstering this digital growth, market data from The NPD Group indicates solid and continued interest in traditional retail, with physical boxed retail sales posting a modest increase. This growth was driven primarily by the increase in console accessories sales and the Nintendo Switch ™ showing a solid second year performance.

“Sales of physical video games continue to look strong. We saw a number of physical software titles break fastest-selling records, with standout launches from games such as Red Dead Redemption 2® , God of War®, Marvel’s Spider-Man®, Call of Duty Black Ops 4®, and Far Cry 5®, to name a few,” said Aidan Sakiris of The NPD Group. “We are now six years into this generation of consoles and hardware performance is looking strong with the various offerings available, especially when compared to the previous generation. Console Accessories have also seen the best performing year in Australian NPD tracking history, which continues to play an important role in the Australian video game market growth.”

 

You can download the accompanying sales data infographic here.

 

The recent Australian federal election shone a spotlight on the need for ongoing support for the local game development industry to take advantage of this popular, global entertainment medium.

“Given Australia’s appetite for games, in line with the global trends, we would like to see the re-elected Federal Government start to appreciate that the Australian Games Development industry is an integral part of the overall screen industry, thereby allowing the sector to access screen support programs available such as refundable tax offsets,” said Curry. “It is imperative that these innovative and creative Australian-based tech companies can compete on a level playing field globally with many other jurisdictions offering support.  Australian games developers should be able to take advantage, culturally and economically, of the global growth of this wildly popular entertainment medium.”

IGEA recently published a paper, Building a Thriving Interactive Games Development Industry  in Australia which explains how and why the Australian game development sector should be supported.

 

About the research

Since 2009, IGEA has provided a review of the state of Australia’s video games industry using commissioned research from The NPD Group Australia. With the growth of digital gaming, the NPD data has been augmented with research from Telsyte to provide a complete picture of the state of the industry.

 

About IGEA

IGEA is the industry association representing the business and public policy interests of Australian and New Zealand companies in the computer and video games industry. IGEA’s members publish, develop, market and/or distribute interactive games and entertainment content and related hardware including mobile and handheld games. For more information, please visit www.igea.net.

 

Media spokespeople available

• For interviews with Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA, please contact Rose Keating, Espresso Communications on +61 2 8016 2200 or igea@espressocomms.com.au.
• For interviews with Foad Fadaghi, Managing Director Telsyte, please contact him on +61 414 992 466.

 

New Zealanders’ appetite for video games continues to skyrocket

Consumer spending breaks the half billion dollar mark

 

Auckland, New Zealand, 23 May 2019 – New Zealanders’ love of playing video games shows no sign of slowing down, as highlighted in data released today by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA). The New Zealand video and computer games industry generated $548 million in the 2018 calendar year, posting a growth of 21 per cent, with strong performances from both the traditional retail and digital sectors.

Overall, sales in the physical retail sector hit the $143.1 million mark, a 21 per cent jump on the previous year, while overall digital sales generated $405 million.

 

Key highlights include;

• Physical retail sales reached $143.1 million, and overall digital sales hit $405 million
• Within physical retail sales, significant growth has come from the upswing in the sale of console accessories, up 45 per cent to $27.7 million in 2018
• Hardware sales still continue to outstrip software sales, with sales of the former hitting $59.3 million, an increase of 37 per cent from the previous year
• Within digital sales, mobile is still the dominant category, generating $194 million, up 11 per cent

“Once again the data shows New Zealanders’ clear love of playing video games,” said Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA. “The fact that the industry has rocketed through the half billion dollar mark is evidence of an industry in great shape. New Zealanders’ are clearly engaged in playing games both physically and digitally, and they continue to find ways to upgrade and extend the life of their games and hardware, evidenced by the clear growth in console accessories sales.

“In the coming months we will be releasing our biennial Digital New Zealand 2020 report, The Power of Games, which will shed light on who plays games and why they play them, as well as offering insights into the use of games beyond pure entertainment.”

According to market research from Telsyte, overall sales in digital were again strong in 2018, with sales breaking the $400 million mark, reaching $405 million. The biggest increase was experienced by sales in mobile games, which generated $194 million in revenue.

According to Foad Fadaghi, Telsyte Managing Director, “Double digit growth in the digital and mobile games segments shows New Zealanders continue to have an unabated appetite for downloading their favourite titles to their devices, both in the living room and on the go.”

Market data from The NPD Group shows that overall digital sales were augmented by sales in the traditional physical retail sector, with overall physical sales reaching $143.1 million. This growth was driven primarily by the increase in console hardware and console accessories sales, with console software also proving popular.

“Sales of physical video games continue to look strong in New Zealand. We saw a number of physical software titles break fastest-selling records, but the key take away from New Zealand’s performance in 2018 was how prominent both Hardware and Accessories performed year on year. In 2018, we saw all 3 major gaming platforms are in double-digit growth in hardware, which is outstanding at this point in the generation” said Aidan Sakiris of The NPD Group. “This goes to show how strong the New Zealand video game market is, with double digit increased spend across the majority of video games categories in 2018 year on year”.

You can download the accompanying infographic here.

 

About the research

Since 2009, IGEA has provided a review of the state of New Zealand’s video games industry using commissioned research from The NPD Group. With the growth of digital gaming, the NPD data has been augmented with research from Telsyte to provide a complete picture on the state of the industry.

 

About IGEA

IGEA is the industry association representing the business and public policy interests of New Zealand and Australian companies in the computer and video games industry. IGEA’s members publish, develop, market and/or distribute interactive games and entertainment content and related hardware including mobile and handheld games. For more information, please visit www.igea.net.

 

Media spokespeople available

• For interviews with Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA, please contact Rose Keating, Espresso Communications on +61 2 8016 2200 or igea@espressocomms.com.au.
• For interviews with Foad Fadaghi, Managing Director Telsyte, please contact him on +61 414 992 466.

 

IGEA letter to the Australian video games industry, May 2019

Dear Industry Colleagues,

We think it’s fair to say that the result of the weekend’s election has left some commiserating, others celebrating and many a little confused about what happened and what it means.

From a purely industry point of view, we are acutely aware of the disappointment many of you may be feeling, having had the return of the AIGF as a real possibility, only to have it very quickly snatched away, or at best, moved much further away. IGEA shares that disappointment.

Whilst the Coalition failed to make any similar election commitments around games industry funding, our discussions and lobbying efforts with them did not (and will not) cease. Moving forward, our efforts will now become even more vital. It is unclear if there will be a change of Minister responsible for funding, but regardless of who assumes that role, we will continue to illustrate to them how and why Australia needs a thriving interactive games industry, a complete game development ecosystem and why games should be included in any screen industry initiatives.  IGEA, through the support of our members, will continue to lead this discussion and advocacy across Federal, State and Territory jurisdictions.

Games funding is an important piece of work we intently focus on and are very public about, but it’s only one of many concerns facing the industry. The election result is going to touch a lot of other areas that may impact us all. Before the election, the government announced they will:

• Undertake a national review of violence and video games
• Introduce an Online Safety Charter
• Tighten safety setting requirements through a Keeping Australians Safety Online policy
• Introduce new privacy rules
• Make no amendments to the controversial Assistance and Access Act and the Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Materials laws
• Introduce various support, investment and tax measures to support small and medium businesses

This is not an insignificant list of issues and they stand to affect many of our members and the wider industry as/if/when they are implemented and executed. These issues are in addition to all the other ongoing priorities we continue to advocate for the interests of members, including classification, immigration, copyright and competition and consumer law. IGEA will continue to work with our members, our Legal and Policy Committee, our Game Development Policy Group and with our government relations advisers to address each of these issue as they arise. As always, our strategy is to make sure that any regulation is balanced, informed and necessary, while industry support programs are designed in a way that supports the video games industry to grow.

In short, as an industry we expect a turbulent time over the coming year and as a members’ association, we will do our best to mitigate risks and protect and promote the industry as best we can. More broadly, will also continue to speak passionately to the community and policymakers about why video games are important to Australia – socially, culturally and economically – and can no longer be ignored.

A light on the horizon is definitely the launch of our Digital Australia reports (due 23 July in Australia and 4 September in NZ) which will again serve to inform and educate policy makers around the facts of who plays games, why they play games, attitudes towards games and ultimately the power of games.  We have also committed to undertaking research into the size of the Australian development industry, so we will be looking to your support in completing the confidential surveys.  Stay tuned for an update.

IGEA has a lot of work to continue to do, so onwards and hopefully upwards for the games industry.

 

Ron Curry, Ben Au and Raelene Knowles

IGEA Team

 

May 06 – May 12, 2019

May 06 – May 12, 2019

May 06 – May 12, 2019

May 06 – May 12, 2019

IGEA statement in response to Labor policy announcement to re-instate The Australian Interactive Games Fund

IGEA is heartened by today’s policy announcement from the Federal Labor party announcing that, if elected, they will re-introduce an interactive games fund of $25 million to be invested over three years. This investment in the Australian games development industry has been informed by the experience of the former Australian Interactive Games Fund (axed by the Liberal Government in 2014) and will contribute to export revenue, innovation and highly skilled jobs with transferrable skills for Australians.

“IGEA and our members are encouraged and grateful for this commitment from the Labor Party who recognise that game development is an industry of the future and is worth supporting.  Australian game developers are creative, talented, resilient and ready to lead and grow the digital revolution,” says Ron Curry, CEO of the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association.  “Should the Labor Party win the election, we are ready to work with them on the re-establishment of the fund to deliver successful outcomes for the industry”.

Curry also notes that this is one of the number of support mechanisms IGEA are seeking on behalf of the local games development industry and look forward to working closely with all sides of the political landscape to establish a comprehensive and integrated support plan to position Australia as a leader in a global $200B business.

“IGEA have spent a considerable amount of time, effort and funding informing and educating politicians, advisers and public servants advocating for the industry and highlighting the opportunities Australia is missing, culminating in a release of our policy paper, Building a Thriving Interactive Games Development Industry. It is very encouraging that Federal Labor has acknowledged this potential.”

Submission to The Australian Human Rights Commission and World Economic Forum White Paper on Artificial Intelligence

IGEA has made a submission to the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and World Economic Forum White Paper on Artificial Intelligence (AI). The AHRC conducted consultation on the White Paper as part of its project on Human Rights and New Technology and aims to explore models of governance and leadership on AI in Australia.

The AHRC’s project highlights the increasing awareness around the role and importance of AI technology as well as ethical considerations and questions around regulation. IGEA’s submission provides a high level snapshot of AI technology within video games, explains how the use of AI within video games does not raise the same ethical questions as it does in some other industries, and identifies opportunities for building and leveraging AI innovation and experience through Australian video game development studios.

April 29 – May 05, 2019

April 29 – May 05, 2019

April 29 – May 05, 2019