Based on numbers reported by the Interactive Games and Interactive Association, 2014 was a blockbuster year for the Australian games industry. This was boosted by the release of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as well as the continued popularity of digital games, like casino pokies online.

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The entire industry’s annual sales increased by 20% i.e. $2.46 billion. The majority of this increase was due to hardware sales, console sales went up 47% since 2013. The 2013 numbers were also bolstered by the late November release of the Playstation and Xbox. They both also continue to make record sales post launch, a sure sign that video games are still a growth industry in Australia.

Because of these numbers, brick and mortar retail stores also saw a big increase, a fact that goes again prior trends. Although on the conservative side, the 7% increase was negatively affected by the reduction in retail software sales. It is also important to note that the decline was offset by software growth in all the new current-gen platforms like Wii U and 3DS. It’s probable that this decline may be an effect of the transition from PS3/Xbox 360 to PS4/Xbox One. In Australia, previous gen consoles still make up a decent portion of software sales but this decreases when new consoles are released.

Another huge driver of 2014’s success was digital game sales, which saw an increase of 39% year-on-year. The mobile market saw a dramatically large year-on-year increase (56%), with sales that surpassed 700 million. It is also interesting to note that Minecraft’s sale also grew significantly in 2014, doubling in both revenue and sales.

In the opinion of IGEA CEO, Ron Curry, the Australian video games industry is in great shape because of the growth in digital and the next gen launches. All of the latest research shows that developers will continue to see a demand for their games, which will position the Australian gaming industry for even more growth in the future.

After a 23% contraction in 2012 and conservative sales in 2013, 2014 was a great year of recovery for the Australian games industry Furthermore, all signs point to even more growth in both software sales at retail as the consumer base changes to the new hardware in the PS4 and Xbox One.