Canadian economy nets $2.3 billion from games industry
At the Ottawa International Game Conference last week, Entertainment Software Association of Canada president and CEO Jayson Hilchie revealed that the video game industry added around $2.3 billion to Canada's national GDP throughout 2012.
Hilchie explains that the industry has seen significant growth year-on-year, and was responsible for creating thousands of jobs across multiple fields.
"There are 16,500 men and women working full time in Canada's video game industry, up 5 percent from where we were in 2011," Hilchie said. "But our industry is responsible for generating employment for approximately 27,000 people across the Canadian economy. These are high paying jobs - paying on average just over $72,000 - going to young workers in creative / artistic disciplines, technical fields and business / administrative functions."
Hilchie noted that 84 percent of Canadian game development studios create games for mobile platforms. Around 66 percent of Canadian studios develop for PC platforms, while 48 percent are devoted to console development.
