The videogames industry grew four times as much as the overall U.S. economy, according to a report by the Entertainment Software Association.
The American video game industry grew 17% from 2003 to 2006, while the general growth of the economy was 4%. Retail sales of games totaled $7.0 billion in 2005, and sales of games for both PCs and consoles grew from 74.1 million units in 1996 to over 250 million units in 2006.
The videogaming industry added $3.8 billion dollars to the Gross Domestic Product in 2006, while employing 80,000 people across 31 states. Forty percent of the US videogame industry is employed in California. The industry grew 12.3 percent in California, tripling the general rate of state economic growth.
The U.S. government includes videogaming statistics as part of the overall software industry. But the videogaming employment rate is up 4.4%, while general software jobs are down.
From Ars Technica:
The primary theme in mainstream media coverage of games is that they destroy lives and create killers. This study, though funded by a pro-gaming trade group, at least suggests there’s much more to the picture than that. Gaming brings significant economic benefits to the US in terms of sales and employment, and that impact will only grow as the industry matures.
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