The sector was surveyed for the first time by the Australian Bureau of Statistics which revealed this week that 45 game development houses generated $136.9million in income for their owners, with an operating profit margin of 6.2%.

Console games for PS2, PS3, Xbox and Wii for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo accounted for 71% of income, while games for PC and Mac platforms generated 14.6%.The survey revealed only 1431 people were employed in game development services in Australia - chiefly in Queensland and Victoria - but the chief executive of the Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA), Greg Bondar, disputes the figures.

“The survey is excellent news but very much understated because it doesn’t capture the whole game development industry in Australia,” Bondar says.

The GDAA encouraged members to participate in the ABS survey but their response was voluntary.

The association estimates 2300 people are employed by the sector, generating close to $200million in income annually.  It is expected to grow by 12percent in the next three to four years creating more job opportunities, contrary to industry-wide reports that point to a downturn in IT&T job vacancies last month.

However, the budding sector faces competition for skilled staff from other IT segments which are beginning to deploy gaming techniques in the creation of social networking, advertising, training and educational applications. CONTINUED PAGE 2