Booming industry

Rapid growth in the gaming industry in Austria

The number of game developers has risen by around 70 percent in the past six years.

(Bild: Kannapat - stock.adobe.com)

The domestic gaming industry has grown rapidly over the past six years, as the Game Development Study 2024 published by the Institute of Industrial Research (IWI) on Tuesday shows. According to the study, around 150 companies are currently active in game development - corresponding to growth of 71.3 percent since 2018.

This means that game developers generated a total economic turnover of 188.7 million euros, 85% of which was generated abroad, according to the study, which was commissioned by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce's Association for Management Consultancy, Accounting and Information Technology (UBIT). The previous study published in 2019 was used for comparison.

According to co-author of the study Wolfgang Koller from IWI, game development is a "young and dynamic industry" that is "predominantly characterized by small companies with above-average young specialists" in Austria. According to the survey, 48 percent of all game developers are under 35 years old. Only eight percent are older than 45. Around 80 percent of all employees in the industry have a university or university of applied sciences degree.

The study included 80 percent of all gaming companies in Germany. During the study period, they mainly developed games for entertainment (85 percent) or educational purposes (30 percent) as well as so-called serious games (29 percent), which have clearly defined learning objectives and are not purely for entertainment purposes. 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 as well as in corporate financing and funding. "We need innovations, and these are lacking in the IT sector," said Alfred Harl, Chairman of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber's UBIT trade association. Among other things, he called for two fixed IT lessons per week in general secondary schools.

Universities and universities of applied sciences have invested heavily in the game development sector in recent years. With focal points in Puch near Salzburg, Hagenberg in Upper Austria, Vienna (for example on software engineering and web development) and Klagenfurt.

On the subject of financing, Martin Filipp from the Pioneers of Game Development Austria (PGDA) association suggested setting up funds that would in turn generate money by the companies paying back a proportion of their profits. In the north, for example in Finland, such a system is "already common". What is needed for a good location policy as well as skilled workers are funding channels for company start-ups in Austria, studios for game development and jobs in the industry.

Every third company in the industry applied for public funding last year.