This upbeat message was given during Guillemot’s keynote speech at today’s Edinburgh Interactive Festival.

Nodding towards the success of Nintendo’s Wii and DS in particular, he explained that the expansion of the market will come thanks to new consumers taking up gaming. But he warned that with this growth comes new challenges.

“The market is booming and will will grow by over 50 per cent over the next four years, with lots of new consumers coming,” he said. “But we have to plan now to ensure that we keep those consumers interested in games going forward. Our next challenge is to build on that growth and make sure that those guys coming into the market get the right software.”

And this challenge, he claimed, can be tackled via three key strategies: offering triple-A blockbuster titles to the hardcore; providing a family-friendly portfolio of products; capitalising on opportunites that the Web 2.0 medium provides in terms of community and user-generated content.

- Read this Friday’s MCV for an in-depth analysis of Yves Guillemot’s presentation