The folks at the Entertainment Software Association have published their annual “Essential Facts” report about the game industry, and they claim (among other things) that a good majority — 67 percent — of U.S. households own at least one device used to play video games.
That’s not bad, though it’s not terribly surprising given that the list of acceptable devices includes smartphones and tablets. What is surprising is that the figure is exactly the same as it was seven years ago, when the ESA also reported that 67 percent of U.S. households play games.
Drill deeper into this year’s ESA report (which is based on an Ipsos Connect survey of over 4,000 U.S. households as well as data provided by the NPD Group, EEDAR and the ESRB) and you’ll find reports that U.S. developers and publishers now employ over 65,000 people.
Presumably the actual number of people working in the U.S. game industry in some fashion is even higher, given that some indie developers and other game makers might slip beneath the radar of this report.
For more fun factoids, check out the ESA’s full report.
