Video game industry

Many people work to make video games.

Some people design the games. Others make the art and the sounds.

Some workers test the games to see if they work. These jobs help make the games fun to play. Making games also helps make better computers.

Games helped make better sound parts for computers. This is a very big job for many people around the world.

The video game industry is a massive part of our world.

It is more than just playing games. It involves many different jobs.

People work as designers to plan games. Software engineers write the code. Artists make the pictures. Sound designers create the music. Testers check to see if games work well.

Making games also helps build better computers. Many parts of modern PCs were improved for games. This includes sound cards and graphics cards. Graphics cards help show 3D images.

In the past, games were mostly in arcades. In the 1980s, arcade games were very popular. They made more money than pop music and movies combined!

Later, home consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System changed things. Now, people play on many devices. You can use a console, a phone, or a computer. The industry keeps growing every year.

The video game industry is a huge part of our modern world.

It is much more than just people playing games for fun. This industry includes making games, selling them, and getting feedback from players. It even helps shape things like fashion, sports, and how we use computers. Many different jobs exist within this field.

People work as game designers, software engineers, or sound designers. There are also testers, marketers, and customer support staff. The industry is so big that it helps drive new technology.

Making a game involves a specific way of working.

First, developers like programmers and artists create the game itself. Next, publishers provide the money and handle the advertising. Then, the game moves to distribution. This might mean making physical copies or putting them online. After that, a retailer sells the game to a store. Finally, the consumers buy and play the games. Some people even use special tools called middleware to help build the games. Hardware makers also play a role by providing the machines we play on.

Video games have a long and interesting history.

Before the 1970s, there were no big commercial video games. Early machines like the Nimatron or Bertie the Brain were interactive, but not true video games. In 1947, Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann patented a device using a cathode-ray tube. Later, students at Harvard and MIT made a game called Spacewar!. In 1971, the first commercial arcade game, Computer Space, arrived. By 1972, Atari released Pong, which became a huge success. The Magnavox Odyssey also brought games into the home that same year.

There were many big moments for the industry in the past.

In the early 1980s, arcade games were incredibly popular. In 1982, arcade games made $8 billion in quarters. That was more than pop music and Hollywood movies combined! Pac-Man was a massive hit and collected over $1 billion in quarters. However, the North American industry crashed in 1983 because of too many bad games. The Nintendo Entertainment System helped fix this in 1985. Since 2015, the sector has grown steadily. Between 2019 and 2021, the industry expanded by 26%.

Today, video games are part of almost everything we do.

They have helped make our personal computers much better. Many computer parts, like sound cards and graphics cards, were improved for games. Even 3D graphic accelerators and CPUs have been pushed forward by this industry. Now, games compete with movies and music in popularity. You can play games on a console, a computer, or even a smartphone. This shows how much the industry has grown from a small hobby into a mainstream part of life.

The video game industry is a massive global sector that provides both services and knowledge-intensive activities. It is classified as straddling the tertiary sector, which focuses on services, and the quaternary sector, which involves research and technological development. This industry is not just about playing games for entertainment. It includes the entire lifecycle of a product, from initial development and marketing to distribution and monetization. It also relies heavily on consumer feedback to improve future products. Today, the industry is a widespread cultural phenomenon. It influences many parts of society, including the economy, education, healthcare, and even urban planning.

To understand how the industry works, we can look at its value chain. Traditionally, this chain consists of six connected layers. The first layer is game development, where programmers, designers, and artists create the content using middleware and development tools. The second layer is publishing, which provides the necessary funding and handles marketing and advertising. Third is distribution, which involves manufacturing physical media or using digital channels to reach players. The fourth layer is the retailer, which serves as the storefront where games are sold. The fifth layer is the consumer, who purchases and plays the games. Finally, hardware platform manufacturers provide the consoles or devices. These manufacturers may charge license fees to developers or set limitations on what content can be played.

As technology has changed, the structure of this industry has shifted. In the past, distribution was a separate, vital step. However, as the market has transitioned from physical retail to digital downloads, some parts of the value chain have become redundant. For example, a publisher might now handle distribution, or an independent developer might do it themselves. Another way to view the industry is through six distinctive layers of production. These include capital and publishing, product and talent, production and tools, distribution, hardware platforms, and the end-users. The hardware layer is particularly diverse. It includes consoles, mobile devices like smartphones, and even software platforms like web browsers or social media networks.

The history of video games began long before the modern era. Between the 1940s and 1960s, there was no significant commercial video game industry. However, early computing advances set the stage. Machines like the Nimatron, built by Westinghouse Electric, or Bertie the Brain, an arcade tic-tac-toe game, offered interactivity. In 1947, Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann patented a device using a cathode-ray tube, which is the core technology in televisions. This allowed players to interact with a display. Later, students at Harvard and MIT developed Spacewar!, one of the first known computer games. The industry eventually grew out of the arcade scene, which was previously dominated by electro-mechanical games.

The 1970s marked the birth of the commercial market. In 1971, the first commercial arcade game, Computer Space, was released. Shortly after, Atari, Inc. released Pong in 1972, which became a major success with 19,000 arcade cabinets sold. That same year, the Magnavox Odyssey became the first home video game console. While the market saw a crash in 1977 due to many "Pong clones," the industry was revived by Taito's Space Invaders in 1978. This game inspired a golden age of arcades. Space Invaders was so popular that it became the first "killer app" for the Atari 2600 console, quadrupling its sales.

By the early 1980s, the industry reached incredible heights. In 1982, the coin-operated video game industry generated $8 billion in quarters. This was more than the revenue of pop music and Hollywood films combined. One of the most successful games of all time, Pac-Man, collected over $1 billion in quarters within just one year. However, the North American industry suffered a major crash in 1983 because too many poorly developed games were produced. The market was eventually revitalized by the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. This helped the home console market become dominated by Japanese companies.

Today, the video game industry is a massive economic force that drives technological progress. It has played an important role in the improvement of computer hardware. Many parts of modern personal computers, such as graphics cards, sound cards, and CPUs, were improved to meet the needs of gamers. For example, sound cards were originally developed for games before being adopted by the music industry. In 2017, the United States alone had over 2,300 development companies and 525 publishing companies. These companies employed nearly 66,000 people directly. When including indirect employment, the number of people involved rises above 220,000. The industry continues to grow, expanding 26% between 2019 and 2021.