A new study conducted by the Interactive Skills Integration Scheme (ISIS) suggests that the Australian game development community has been severely affected by layoffs and studio closures. The report says that there are only 931 full-time developers distributed amongst 126 studios around the country.
This data suggests that since 2008, the developer community has been halved; this is based on data from a 2008 study saying that Australia had well over 2,000 full-time employees working on games. Even more surprising is that those numbers were counted among far fewer studios at the time, no more than fifty total.
ISIS project director Justin Brow commented on the disappointing results saying that Australian game development no longer “works for hire anymore.”
The entire industry model “has been thrown out the window,” he adds. "Our industry has gone downhill for a number of reasons, but mostly, in my opinion, because we didn't invest enough into developing our own IP. So when big overseas publishers turned around and said they had no more games to make, because they were giving the work to their internal teams or to countries like Canada and China, the Aussie development industry was hit hard.
“Of course, there's also that quiet, underlying question: is the product coming out of Australia good enough? Most people would say no, but I think we do have the goods. Look at Halfbrick, Firemint, etc--they're leading the pack in the iPhone market, and I think that's the path other studios have to go down in order to succeed."
ISIS is funded by Australia’s Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and was supported by both the NSW and Victorian state governments.
The study is aimed at finding a focal point on the gaming industry within Australia. Brow hopes to get the development community back on track. "I want Australia to be more competitive in the global games industry. I know we can do it. We have the innovation, creativity, and technology to do it, and we have good business relationships. There is no reason why we cannot be a leading light in the serious games market."
[Thanks GameSpot]
