2024 wasn’t exactly a high score for the global video game industry — it was more like game over with studio closures left, right, and centre. But in the middle of it all, the Australian video game industry emerged fairly untouched.
Revenue dropped a touch, down 1.9 per cent to AUD $339.1 million from 2023, according to the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA)’s latest Australian Game Development Survey (AGDS) Snapshot.
Jobs Levelling Up
Full-time employment stayed steady across the 137 Aussie studios surveyed (that’s 26 more than last year!). Even better, over half of them are planning to hire in 2025. So, if you’re a game dev looking for work, it might be time to dust off that CV and start dreaming of pixel-perfect job opportunities.
READ MORE: Australian Game Developer Awards 2024
Room For Improvement
Unsurprisingly, there’s still a large divide in gender diversity in the industry. A whopping 74% of employees identify as cisgender male, compared to just 22% of cisgender females, and 4% identify as transgender, non-binary, or gender diverse categories. The gap widened further in 2024, although the full report doesn’t indicate why.
READ MORE: Nintendo Switch ‘Year in Review’ is now live: How to get yours
Victoria: The Gamers’ Paradise
Victoria still holds its crown as the video game capital of Australia, housing 28% of the country’s studios. Queensland trails slightly behind with 25%. Most full-time employees (36%) are also in Victoria, while 27% are up in sunny Queensland. Which I totally understand, as a Melburnian and former Brisbanite.
With many studios relying on publisher deals or early-stage funding to stay afloat, it’ll be interesting to see if the global downturn actually opens up new opportunities for local developers in 2025.
Maybe a little less pressure from big international studios could mean more chances for Aussie devs to shine.
