Good business with interactive entertainment

The computer and video games industry in Switzerland is growing steadily. In 2005, total retail sales of around CHF 271 million were generated in the overall Swiss market for hardware, software and accessories. This figure does not take into account the related sales of upstream and downstream sectors. Swiss households spent CHF 1.5 billion on home entertainment in 2004. According to Roger Frei, President of the Swiss Interactive Entertainment Association (SIEA), the Swiss market for interactive entertainment will grow by a double-digit percentage in the coming years. Growth in the sector has created around 1000 jobs in Switzerland, both directly and indirectly. In the USA, around 141,000 people are employed full-time in the industry. In 1998, the figure was 50,000, according to a study published at the Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 in Los Angeles.