Editing Video game (section)

==Industry==
{{main|Video game industry}}
[[File:Los Angeles -7 (7356846176).jpg|thumb|right|[[E3]] was one of the typical trade show events of the video game industry.]]
[[File:Gamers at Nintendo booth at Gamescom 2015 (19806635354).jpg|thumb|right|Attendees at [[Gamescom]] 2015 playing a video game]]
===History===
The early history of the video game industry, following the first game hardware releases and through 1983, had little structure. Video games quickly took off during the [[golden age of arcade video games]] from the late 1970s to early 1980s, but the newfound industry was mainly composed of game developers with little business experience. This led to numerous companies forming simply to create [[video game clone|clones]] of popular games to try to capitalize on the market.<ref name="down many times"/> Due to loss of publishing control and oversaturation of the market, the North American home video game market [[1983 video game crash|crashed in 1983]], dropping from revenues of around {{USD|3 billion|long=no}} in 1983 to {{USD|100 million|long=no}} by 1985. Many of the North American companies created in the prior years closed down. Japan's growing game industry was briefly shocked by this crash but had sufficient longevity to withstand the short-term effects, and [[Nintendo]] helped to revitalize the industry with the release of the [[Nintendo Entertainment System]] in North America in 1985.<ref name="down many times">{{cite book | last = Ernkvist | first = Mirko | chapter = Down many times, but still playing the game: Creative destruction and industry crashes in the early video game industry 1971–1986 | year = 2008 | pages = 161–191 | title = History of Insolvancy and Bankruptcy | publisher = Södertörns högskola | editor-first= Karl | editor-last=Gratzer | editor-first2=Dieter | editor-last2=Stiefel | isbn = 978-91-89315-94-5 }}</ref> Along with it, Nintendo established a number of core industrial practices to prevent unlicensed game development and control game distribution on their platform, methods that continue to be used by console manufacturers today.<ref name="down many times"/>

The industry remained more conservative following the 1983 crash, forming around the concept of publisher-developer dichotomies, and by the 2000s, leading to the industry centralizing around low-risk, [[AAA (video game industry)|triple-A]] games and studios with large development budgets of at least {{USD|10 million|long=no}} or more.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Demaria |first1=Rusel |last2=Wilson |first2=John |title=High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games |date=2002 |edition=1st |publisher=McGraw-Hill Osborne Media |isbn=0-07-222428-2}}</ref> The advent of the Internet brought digital distribution as a viable means to distribute games, and contributed to the growth of more riskier, experimental [[independent game development]] as an alternative to triple-A games in the late 2000s and which has continued to grow as a significant portion of the video game industry.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.pcgamer.com/from-shareware-superstars-to-the-steam-gold-rush-how-indie-conquered-the-pc/ | title = From shareware superstars to the Steam gold rush: How indie conquered the PC | first = Richard | last = Cobbett | date = 22 September 2017 | access-date = 25 September 2017 | work = [[PC Gamer]] | archive-date = 9 September 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210909121952/https://www.pcgamer.com/from-shareware-superstars-to-the-steam-gold-rush-how-indie-conquered-the-pc/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="indie dreams"/>

===Industry roles===
Video games have a large [[network effect]] that draw on many different sectors that tie into the larger video game industry. While video game developers are a significant portion of the industry, other key participants in the market include:<ref>{{cite journal | title = Value Creation in the Video Game Industry: Industry Economics, Consumer Benefits, and Research Opportunities | first1 = André | last1 = Marchand | first2 = Thorsten | last2 = Hennig-Thurau | journal =[[Journal of Interactive Marketing]] | volume = 27 | issue = 3 | pages = 141–157 | date = August 2013 | doi = 10.1016/j.intmar.2013.05.001}}</ref>
* [[Video game publisher|Publishers]]: Companies generally that oversee bringing the game from the developer to market. This often includes performing the [[marketing]], public relations, and advertising of the game. Publishers frequently pay the developers ahead of time to make their games and will be involved in critical decisions about the direction of the game's progress, and then pay the developers additional royalties or bonuses based on sales performances. Other smaller, boutique publishers may simply offer to perform the publishing of a game for a small fee and a portion of the sales, and otherwise leave the developer with the creative freedom to proceed. A range of other publisher-developer relationships exist between these points.
* [[Distribution (marketing)|Distributors]]: Publishers often are able to produce their own game media and take the role of distributor, but there are also third-party distributors that can mass-produce game media and distribute to retailers. Digital storefronts like [[Steam (service)|Steam]] and the [[App Store (iOS)|iOS App Store]] also serve as distributors and retailers in the digital space.
* Retailers: Physical storefronts, which include large online retailers, department and electronic stores, and specialty video game stores, sell games, consoles, and other accessories to consumers. This has also including a trade-in market in certain regions, allowing players to turn in used games for partial refunds or credit towards other games. However, with the uprising of digital marketplaces and [[E-commerce|e-commerce revolution]], retailers have been performing worse than in the past.
* Hardware manufacturers: The [[video game console]] manufacturers produce console hardware, often through a value chain system that include numerous component suppliers and [[contract manufacturer]] that assemble the consoles. Further, these console manufacturers typically require a license to develop for their platform and may control the production of some games, such as Nintendo does with the use of game cartridges for its systems. In exchange, the manufacturers may help promote games for their system and may seek console exclusivity for certain games. For games on personal computers, a number of manufacturers are devoted to high-performance "[[gaming computer]]" hardware, particularly in the graphics card area; several of the same companies overlap with component supplies for consoles. A range of third-party manufacturers also exist to provide equipment and gear for consoles post-sale, such as additional controllers for console or carrying cases and gear for handheld devices.
* [[Video game journalism|Journalism]]: While journalism around video games used to be primarily print-based, and focused more on post-release reviews and gameplay strategy, the Internet has brought a more proactive press that use web journalism, covering games in the months prior to release as well as beyond, helping to build excitement for games ahead of release.
* [[Influencers]]: With the rising importance of [[social media]], video game companies have found that the opinions of influencers using [[streaming media]] to play through their games has had a significant impact on game sales, and have turned to use influencers alongside traditional journalism as a means to build up attention to their game before release.
* [[Esports]]: Esports is a major function of several multiplayer games with numerous professional leagues established since the 2000s, with large viewership numbers, particularly out of southeast Asia since the 2010s.
* Trade and advocacy groups: Trade groups like the [[Entertainment Software Association]] were established to provide a common voice for the industry in response to governmental and other advocacy concerns. They frequently set up the [[List of gaming conventions|major trade events and conventions]] for the industry such as [[E3]].
* [[Gamer]]s: Proactive hobbyists who are players and consumers of video games. While their representation in the industry is primarily seen through game sales, many companies follow gamers' comments on social media or on user reviews and engage with them to work to improve their products in addition to other feedback from other parts of the industry. Demographics of the larger player community also impact parts of the market; while once dominated by younger men, the market shifted in the mid-2010s towards women and older players who generally preferred mobile and causal games, leading to further growth in those sectors.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/female-adults-oust-teenage-boys-largest-gaming-demographic | title = Women significantly outnumber teenage boys in gamer demographics | first = Charles | last = Pulliam-Moore | date = 21 August 2014 | access-date = 2 April 2021 | work = [[PBS News Hour]] | archive-date = 12 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210312225703/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/female-adults-oust-teenage-boys-largest-gaming-demographic | url-status = live }}</ref>

===Major regional markets===
{{see also|Video game industry#International practices}}
The industry itself grew out from both the United States and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s before having a larger worldwide contribution. Today, the video game industry is predominantly led by major companies in North America (primarily the United States and Canada), Europe, and southeast Asia including Japan, South Korea, and China. Hardware production remains an area dominated by Asian companies either directly involved in hardware design or part of the production process, but digital distribution and indie game development of the late 2000s has allowed game developers to flourish nearly anywhere and diversify the field.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Sotamaa | first = Olli | title = Studying Game Development Cultures | journal = Games and Culture | date = 2009 | volume =4 | pages = 276 | doi = 10.1177/1555412009339732 | s2cid = 8568117 }}</ref>

===Game sales===
{{See also|List of best-selling video games|Golden age of arcade video games}}
[[File:Videogameretaildisplay.jpg|thumb|A retail display in Switzerland with a large selection of games for platforms popular in the early 2000s]]
According to the market research firm Newzoo, the global video game industry drew estimated revenues of over {{USD|159 billion|long=no}} in 2020. Mobile games accounted for the bulk of this, with a 48% share of the market, followed by console games at 28% and personal computer games at 23%.<ref name="vg industry size 2020"/>

Sales of different types of games vary widely between countries due to local preferences. Japanese consumers tend to purchase much more [[handheld game]]s than [[console game]]s and especially [[PC game]]s, with a strong preference for games catering to local tastes.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ashcraft |first1=Brian |title=Why PC Gaming Is Still Niche in Japan |url=https://kotaku.com/5977001/why-pc-gaming-is-still-niche-in-japan |website=[[Kotaku]] |access-date=23 June 2018 |date=18 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623222027/https://kotaku.com/5977001/why-pc-gaming-is-still-niche-in-japan |archive-date=23 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Byford |first1=Sam |title=Japan used to rule video games, so what happened? |url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/20/5522320/final-fight-can-japans-gaming-industry-be-saved |website=[[The Verge]] |access-date=23 June 2018 |date=20 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623222003/https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/20/5522320/final-fight-can-japans-gaming-industry-be-saved |archive-date=23 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another key difference is that, though having [[Golden age of video arcade games|declined in the West]], [[arcade game]]s remain an important sector of the [[Video gaming in Japan|Japanese gaming industry]].<ref>{{cite news | last=Lewis | first=Leo | date=9 February 2017 | title=Game on: why Japan's arcades are still winning | work=[[Financial Times]] | url=https://www.ft.com/japanarcades | access-date=26 December 2017 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227122301/https://www.ft.com/japanarcades | archive-date=27 December 2017 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> [[Video gaming in South Korea|In South Korea]], computer games are generally preferred over console games, especially [[Massively multiplayer online role-playing game|MMORPG]] games and [[real-time strategy]] games. Computer games are also popular in China.<ref>{{cite web|last=Usher|first=William|title=PC Game Sales Top $18.6 Billion In 2011|url=http://www.cinemablend.com/games/PC-Game-Sales-Top-18-6-Billion-2011-40337.html|work=Gaming Blend|publisher=Cinema Blend|access-date=17 March 2012|date=11 March 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609070958/http://www.cinemablend.com/games/PC-Game-Sales-Top-18-6-Billion-2011-40337.html|archive-date=9 June 2012}}</ref>