The Videogame Industry

A global Industry 

Since the 90's, the video game industry has developed thanks to constantly increasing demand from players all over the world. This is the sector of the economy that designs, produces and markets interactive numeric games for a large variety of platforms has a dozen disciplines in its field, and create many jobs worldwide.

In 2016, the video game market represented around $ 100 billion in worldwide turnover.

This chart shows the top countries in the video game industry in 2016, based on their revenue (in billions of US dollars). Last year, China was the largest video game market in the world before he US, with a turnover of more than $ 24 billion.

Today, this industry is worth 3 times more than the film industry.

(https://fr.statista.com/statistiques/658404/pays-leader-industrie-jeux-video-revenu/)

Let’s not forget the fact that the videogame market is really challenging. Indeed, companies have a hard time keeping up with late trends and new player habits. It is very costly to produce and promote a videogame. In addition, the life cycle of a product is really short in general. This is a tough market with high competition.

Videogame producers have to adapt to the different platforms accessible nowadays.

Beside these platforms, more and more people are choosing mobile games.

The industry can be divided into two segments: the console & PC game industry and the mobile industry.

Lately, videogame officials have considered the fact of introducing E-sport games to the international Olympic Games. Indeed, doing so would allow the product to have a longer life cycle and the players themselves would promote it.  The most recent Video Games Economics forum took place in Angoulême (France) in 2016 and brought together the main producers and players of electronic sport games.

In the spring of 2016, one of Call of Duty's three developer studios, Treyarch, had suggested that the famous FPS could one day join the Olympic program.

Electronic sport competitions are likely to be introduced during the 2024 Olympic Games.

 The French videogame market

In France, more than 10000 people were working for this sector in the early 2000s. Following the bursting of the internet bubble, France, which was leading the European market before England until 2001, saw its sector of 15,000 professionals fall by more than two-thirds in ten years before stabilizing in 2010. In 2012, the country counted 240 companies and was designated the 7^th biggest videogame producer in the world after the USA, Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia.

In 2016, the video game industry in France also generated a significant turnover of € 3.46 billion, which represents an increase of 4% over the previous year. Therefore, it was the second largest cultural industry in the country behind the book industry.

The industry has 25 000 employees and France aims to become the market leader in the region. To achieve this, in 2008, the country created a tax credit for videogames to keep the national talents in the country and attract foreign investors. Besides, France wants to benefit from Brexit. Granting a credit for videogames is likely to convince producers to develop their projects in France instead of the UK.

This tax credit contributes to the financing of the studios through grant allocations. France wants this system to benefit foreign investors that has great potential.

Right after its creation, this financial contribution was already awarded to more than 70 companies and had already financed more than 180 projects, amounting to more than € 90 million.

The goal is for the French industry to survive and thrive as well as to attract foreign investors.

As a result, several major video game producers have already invested in the country in recent years. Furthermore, it has contributed to the development of many videogames in France such as Blockbusters, Dishonored 2, Steep, and Ghost Recon Wildlands. The French video game producer Ubisoft, whose staff in ten years had grown ten times faster abroad than in France, recently announced the creation of a studio in Bordeaux. Ubisoft is one of the three leaders in the world and it hires most of its employees abroad. The Japanese firm SEGA bought the French studio Amplitude (Endless Space) in 2016, while the American Microsoft entrusted its first holographic video games to Asobo in Bordeaux.

After some debate, the tax credit for videogame has been made accessible to games that are not recommended to under 18 years-olds provided that their content does not contain hyperviolence or pornography, and that they contribute to creative diversification.

 Marne-Eline Séverine SAFFACHE