Video games' impact on US economy $18 bln: study (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The video game industry, whichsupported 144,000 full-time jobs and accounted for more than $8billion in game sales in 2004, had an $18 billion impact on theU.S. economy that year, according to a new study to be releasedon Wednesday.

Estimates call for video game sales to grow to $15 billionby 2010. Industry employment is expected to leap nearly 75percent to 250,000 jobs by 2009.

The study, written by Robert Crandall of the BrookingsInstitution and J. Gregory Sidak of the Georgetown UniversityLaw Center, was funded by the Entertainment SoftwareAssociation and will be discussed at the ElectronicEntertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

The authors found that direct and indirect contributions ofentertainment software to the nation's gross national output, ameasure of the value of goods and services produced in aneconomy, exceeded $18 billion in 2004 -- a figure they saidwould steadily increase as the industry grows.

The North America video game market, including sales ofgames and players such as consoles and hand-held devices, wasvalued at $12.6 billion in 2005 and is forecast to expand to$17.2 billion by 2010, according to research firm DFCIntelligence.

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