The first six months of this year bode very well: the market for computer games generated 1.05 billion Euros in turnover for games consoles and game software which is 20% more than in the first half of 2007 when turnover reached 873 million Euros. This finding was reported by the German Association for Information Management, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) in Berlin. These figures raise spirits in the run-up to the Games Convention fair which is to start in a few days.
“The market for computer games grew once more as compared to 2007, even though there were no new games consoles launched onto markets. What we see is structural growth which is also due to new groups of purchasers”, was the comment by Mr. Achim Berg, vice president of BITKOM, at the end of the press conference in Berlin.
BITKOM expects the market to grow by in total 13% to 2.6 billion Euros by the end of 2008. At the end of 2007 this figure was 2.3 billion Euros and 1.8 billion in 2006. “The market for computer games has reached quite an impressing size in Germany. It nowadays is at least as important as other branches of the entertainment business such as the film or music industry. But there is one difference to it: the games market is growing rapidly”, said Mr. Berg. The number of consoles sold has almost doubled in a couple of years.
The Games Convention will take place in Leipzig from August 20th to 24th. 