Italian Territory Report

Last year the Italian video games market grew 2.3 per cent (with a total income of €742m). For the first half of this year, a total growth of 47.6 per cent was registered.

The research outlines that the €742m income does not take into account the market for gaming devices (e48m – an increase of 16.5 per cent in value). Video game software has a value of almost €475m, while the hardware is worth €267m, registering a growth in value of 17 per cent compared to 2005.

In 2006, more than 1.6 million consoles were sold: 52 per cent were home consoles while 48 per cent were portable. From a quantitative point of view, the number of home consoles sold decreased, even if there was an increase of eight per cent in the market value – to which the launch of Nintendo Wii surely contributed.

There is, therefore, a tendency towards a ‘mobile’ use of video games, common to other European countries, where the portable console market is bigger than the home console one.

The fast growth registered in the first semester is a sign of a brighter future for the Italian market, due mainly to the innovative technology, the creativity and multimedia functionality at product level and the evolution and diversification in the product distribution.

In 2006, almost 16 million video games were sold in Italy. The 4.6 per cent growth in value achieved an income of €475m, mainly thanks to the decrease in the average prices of products for PS2 and PC. Sell-through of portable console games saw fantastic results, with a growth of 38.8 per cent in value.

In 2006, in the Italian market, 1,718 new products were released, 479 more than the previous year. One Italian family out of three has a games device, an increase of six per cent in receptivity towards technology within the country. The Italian video games market is therefore growing, both in accordance to the development dynamics showed by other European countries, and due to the enlargement of the Italian internal market.

This research is thanks to Gamestore’s collaboration with Gfk Marketing Services. They form the main findings from the third edition of the Association Editors Italian Video games Software report on the Italian video games market.