Australia has had a habit of bending over backwards when it comes to the film industry in recent years. Between the Federal Government handing out $140 million incentives to have Hollywood studios film in Australia to a local film industry that generates $3 billion annually to the economy, movies are a big part of our ecosystem.
So here’s the big question, why doesn’t Australia bend over backwards when it comes to the video game industry?
To put things into context, the global film industry is worth about $135 billion as of 2018 whereas the video game industry is worth about *checks notes* oh, well whaddya know, it’s also about $135 billion as of 2018 and rapidly rising.
Consumer spending on gaming in Australia is skyrocketing, with over $3 billion spent in 2017, but a majority of that is comprised of content developed overseas. Breaking down that $3 billion-ish figure and the truth is considerably less bright as games made by local Australian developers generated “only” around $118.5 million in revenue.
While that figure is small relatively speaking, it shows just how well the Australian video game industry is operating despite virtually no support. Whereas the government lavishes attention and resources to films and Hollywood, funding has repeatedly been cut for video game studios and Australia’s developer scene is almost entire comprised of independent companies.
The thing is Australia actually used to be home to several AAA video game studios – such as 2K Australia Studios, THQ, and Team Bondi – about a decade ago but virtually all have shut its doors due to the lack of monetary support. 2014 saw another blow when the Federal Government pulled its three-year, $20 million Australian Interactive Games fund, resulting in the loss of several jobs and essentially kneecapping an already-struggling industry.
Former Greens deputy leader Scott Ludlum responded by launching an inquiry into the state of the Australian game industry and the resulting report found that federal funding has been successful for Aussie gaming in the past and recommended a number of things the government can do to offer support.
So what did the government do? Absolutely nothing.
To the Australian video game industry’s credit, it has continued to push through all this adversity and lack of government support but it’s come to the point where gaming has simply become too large to ignore.
As the 2019 federal election dawns upon us, the question of “why don’t we treat the video game industry with the same respect as the film industry” needs to be brought up once again.
Sadly, it appears that the question has fallen on mostly deaf ears as the only video game-related thing that’s come up during the campaign trail is the Federal Government promising to introduce an Online Safety Act – which is essentially a misguided way of combating trolls – if they win re-election.
That being said, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Australian video game industry. In a recent Reddit AMA, Greens leader Richard Di Natale was asked about whether the Greens intend to continue Ludlum’s work in advocating for gaming and he says the party intend to bring a new video game policy to the 2019 election that involves funding and helping local companies to grow.
“We’re bringing a great video games policy to this election – $100 million to a new Games Investment & Enterprise Fund that will invest in game development projects and help successful games companies grow their businesses.
“We’ll also extend the Producer Tax Offset and the PDV Offset to video game developers. And we’ll allocate $5 million to assist in the development of creative coworking spaces, inspired by the Arcade in Melbourne.”
It really is.
When you look at the numbers, there’s really no reason why the government should be ignoring the video game industry, especially since games revenue will only continue to rise.
Here’s hoping that the government will pull its head out of the gutter very soon and realise that there’s much to gain from supporting its local video game industry rather than treating it as a mere hobby kids like to do because right now it’s a massive missed opportunity for Australia.