Driven by PS4, Xbox and Nintendo.
Australian consumers spent $3.23 billion on games and hardware in 2017, a 9% lift on the previous year’s sales, according to data from Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA).
A cyclical upturn and solid performance in retail sales was driven by hardware such as the PlayStation4 (PS4), Xbox One and Nintendo Switch, which resulted in console hardware, console accessories and console software all experiencing growth.
Telsyte research indicates total digital sales were up 9%, surpassing the $2 billion mark in 2017. Digital downloads, including full game downloads and digital extras, increased by 16% last year.
Subscription revenue also continued to grow, up 14% in 2017, with more gamers signing up to PlayStationPlus and Xbox Live. Mobile game sales retained the majority share of the digital games market, and in 2017 generated more than $1 billion in revenue.
IGEA CEO, Ron Curry said, “Despite the huge amount of entertainment options available to Australians, the appetite for games shows no signs of waning, evidenced by growth across the entire industry.
“In 2017, we saw gamers embrace new and updated consoles. At the same time, there was lots of love shown and nostalgia for old favourites – both hardware and games. Australian consumers enjoy buying products in-store, where they can seek out hands-on experiences and advice from retail staff, and similarly they are very comfortable downloading full games and additional content.”
Telsyte managing director, Foad Fadaghi said, “While half of all digital related revenues remain mobile, other segments including downloaded console games and subscriptions had a stellar year with double digit growth. Telsyte expects the market to remain strong in 2018 with continued push to digital platforms and subscription models by leading publishers.”