Video gaming by the numbers

Analysts predict that in 2014 the industry will top $100 billion.

Among the biggest growth areas are the $7 billion Chinese PC gaming
market, but Australia is 13 in the top 100 countries ranked by game
spending, with an estimated $1.3 billion spent in 2014. In 2013 the
industry racked up $1.1 billion in sales.

Bond University conducts its Digital Australia survey every two years,
and its last report in 2012 found that 65 percent of Australians play
video games.

47 per cent of Australian gamers are female and the average age is 32.

Three quarters of Australian gamers are over 18 and one fifth over 51.

The average duration of play is an hour every other day.

In the year ending June 2012, Australian game development companies
produced 245 digital games and generated $89.4 million in income.

The rapid expansion of the gaming demographic is partly due to the
rise of mobile and tablet-based games. The mobile arm of just one
international developer, Electronic Arts, recently announced its 2
billionth download.

The reach of mobile games goes right to the heart of politics, too:
British MP Nigel Mills was this month forced to apologise after he was
caught playing Candy Crush in Parliament during a pensions debate.