Gaming proves serious business as

WOULD you spend more than $4 billion on your hobby?

Australians do, it seems, following the release of figures from the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA) showing that in the 2018 calendar year, we spent $4.029 billion (yes, billion) on video gaming and hardware.

Of that impressive sum, $1.179 billion came from physical retail sales (from actual bricks-and-mortar stores), while $2.851 billion was from digital sales, such as through online platforms such as Steam, the PlayStation Store, the Microsoft Store, Google Play or the Apple App Store.

IGEA CEO Ron Curry said the figures proved Australians were passionate about their games, regardless of platform, with the overall numbers representing a 25 per cent increase over 2017’s sale figures.

“The excitement for video games is continuing to grow, with phenomenal consumer sales in 2018,” Mr Curry said.

“Australia continues to experience video games sales growth, in line with trends similarly experienced by other