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With over 150 studios, Melbourne accounts for half of Australia’s games industry revenue

State’s minister for mental health Martin Foley opens GCAP with Keynote and commitment to growth

With over 150 studios, Melbourne accounts for half of Australia’s games industry revenue

The state of Victoria, which includes the city of Melbourne, accounts for 50 per cent of Australia’s total games industry revenue.

Games Connect Asia Pacific 2019 kicked off with Victoria minister for mental health Martin Foley unveiling the news during the opening keynote.

This year marks the event’s 14th anniversary, with the main theme of “Lighting The Way” mentioned throughout his speech.

Other speakers during the opening keynote included Junkee Media editor Rae Johnston, Game Developers' Association of Australia interim CEO Melissa Lancuba and WB Games Montreal narrative director Ann Lemay.

The digital games industry had a global spend of an estimated $138 billion in 2018, according to Invest Victoria.

The firm also states that over 150 studios reside in Melbourne with 53 per cent of digital companies located in the city too. 

Gunning for Oz

Call of Duty developer Sledgehammer Games recently announced that the firm would be expanding into the country, with its first Australian studio.

No details of what the new studio will be working on have been disclosed. The mobile version of the popular first-person shooter recently reached 35 million downloads, despite not being live in China or Belgium.

The event also coincides with Mental Health Week and World Mental Health Day on October 10th, 2019. To mark this, several sessions will be taking place across Melbourne International Games Week to help tackle the issue.

You can keep up-to-date with all of our coverage of Melbourne International Games Week 2019 right here.


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.