Games industry
The games industry is a branch of industry that deals with the invention, production and marketing of games . In 2014, the game industry had sales of around $ 100 billion worldwide.
history
In the 17th century, toys were mainly made in-house. As a result of the rise of the European bourgeoisie, from the middle of the 18th century many companies were established that were involved in the production of games. In the beginning these were mainly dolls and wooden toys , for example in Seiffen in the Ore Mountains . Card games then became fashionable in the early 19th century. In this initial phase of industrialization, the focus was still on the pure production of the games. The ideas were either handed down or were simply copied. In order to prevail against the growing competition, one began to protect game ideas towards the end of the 19th century. In the 20th century, in particular, this caused large manufacturers to emerge. The city of Sonneberg in Thuringia became known as the “world toy city” - which is why today z. B. the German Toy Museum remembers.
Current upheaval
The game industry is currently in a state of upheaval. Traditional manufacturers of games are coming under increasing pressure due to market saturation, the low birth rates in industrialized countries and growing competition from computer games . Although the manufacturing costs are only around 20 percent of sales on average in the industry, the costs for advertising and sales are also increasing. In addition, there is now also cheap competition here. For example, LEGO's patents on its building blocks have long since expired, so that other companies are now pushing onto the market with compatible blocks. One of the ways out is that new target groups are constantly being developed. There are now a number of board games that are produced exclusively for adults.
Toy import and export (Germany)
According to statistics for 2006 by the Federal Statistical Office , the import of toys in Germany increased by 12.6% in the period from January to November 2005 compared to the same period in the previous year, while exports fell by 8.6%. Overall, sales are:
- Export of toys for 1.7 billion euros
- Import of toys for 2.7 billion euros
The main supplier countries for goods from the games industry are:
- China (56% of all imports),
- the Netherlands (12%),
- Denmark (6%) and
- Japan (6%).
The share of video games in imports was 20% of the value of all toy imports. Here, too, both China (59%) and the Netherlands (37%) are among the main suppliers.
Sub-areas
The games market is divided into the following areas:
- Board games (e.g. chess , mill , checkers , don't get angry , Halma )
- Computer games
- Board games
- Card games (e.g. poker , skat , rummy )
- Dolls / stuffed animals
- Puzzles
- Mind and puzzle games (e.g. Rubik's Cube )
- Role play
- Construction toys (e.g. Lego )
Computer games
Since the 1970s, computer games have developed their own industry. Computer games are divided into the following main groups:
- Adventures
- Construction simulations
- Puzzle games ( solitaire )
- Combination games ( Tetris , Sokoban )
- Jump 'n' run games
- Reaction games ( Dynablaster )
- Racing games
- Role play
- Simulators (mostly flight simulators )
- Strategy games
Manufacturer
Well-known manufacturers include:
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Web links
- Life After The Video Game Crash - About the crisis in the computer game industry
- Overview of the German computer game companies
- Map with the locations of the German board and card game publishers