The domestic gaming economy has grown rapidly over the past six years, as evidenced by the Industrial Science Institute’s (IWI) Game Development Study 2024, released Tuesday. Currently, around 150 companies are active in game development – which corresponds to a growth of 71.3 percent since 2018.
The game developers thus generated a total economic turnover of 188.7 million euros, of which 85 percent abroad, according to the results of the study, which was commissioned by the Management Consulting, Accounting and Information Technology Association (UBIT) of the Austrian Chamber. of Handel. The previous study from 2019 was used for comparison.
So-called “game development” is a “young and dynamic industry” that in Austria is “mainly characterized by small companies with above-average young skilled workers,” says co-author Wolfgang Koller of the IWI. According to the study, 48 percent of all game developers are under the age of 35. Only eight percent are older than 45 years. About 80 percent of all employees in the sector have a university or technical education.
The survey covered 80 percent of all gaming companies in this country. During the research period, they mainly developed games for entertainment (85 percent) or educational purposes (30 percent) and so-called serious games (29 percent), which have clearly defined learning objectives and are not just intended for pure entertainment. In general, computer and mobile games are mainly developed for smartphones and tablets.
Need for action
There is a particular need for action in the education sector and in the field of corporate finance. “We need innovations, which are lacking in the IT sector,” says Alfred Harl, chairman of the WKÖ specialist association UBIT. He advocated, among other things, two fixed computer science hours per week in secondary schools.
In any case, universities and technical colleges have invested a lot in the field of game development in recent years. With a focus on Puch near Salzburg, Hagenberg in Upper Austria, Vienna (including on software engineering and web development) and Klagenfurt.
As for financing, Martin Filipp from the association Pioneers of Game Development Austria (PGDA) proposed setting up funds that would in turn generate money by allowing the companies to repay proportional profits. In the north, for example in Finland, such a system is “already common”. What is needed for good location policies and a skilled workforce are financing channels for setting up companies in Austria, game development studios and jobs in the industry.
One in three companies in the sector applied for government funding last year.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
