In 2008, the turnover in Italy for hardware and software saw a rise of 21.6%, to one billion, 200 million euros: 53.1% of the turnover during the past year came from sales of software (670,857,781 million euro) and 46.9% from sales of hardware (591,852,158 million euro).

The forecast is even better for 2009; in fact the first five months for the video games industry saw an increase of 29.5%. And the forecasts are for continuing strong growth.

Italy, in terms of the video games industry lies in 5th place in Europe. Ahead of it are: Great Britain, France, Germany and Spain; while for the first time, Italy lies in third place in the ranking of Countries with the most dynamic development trend.

"Against a general background of reduced consumer spending, the growing interest in video games in our Country can be attributed, in wide measure, to the progressive increase in the number of consumers who, thanks to the creativity and innovation of the contents and the new gaming experiences offered by the latest generation of consoles, which are now available to the video playing public," comments Andrea Persegati, the Aesvi President. "Today, the video game is no longer a pastime for a niche of consumers, it has been transformed into a mass medium which, as well as entertaining, can help young and old, men and women alike, to live better, to learn, to work, and in many cases becoming a life style."

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---