Report: European, Middle East Markets To Reach $15.4bn By 2011

A new report by eSport company Turtle Entertainment suggests that the overall video games market in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will reach $15.4 billion by 2011, a compound annual rise of 10.2 percent from a figure of $11.3 billion in 2007. Home and portable consoles are expected to continue to form the largest segment of the market, rising by 6.3 percent annually from $6.12 billion in 2007 to $7.3 billion in 2011. Quoting data from a PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Entertainment and Media Outlook, PC sales were expected to be flat at around $1.4 billion. "Online games will exhibit the highest rate of growth, increasing by 24.6 percent on a compound annual rate from $1.57 billion in 2007 to $3.6 billion in 2011. Wireless games will reach $3.1 billion by 2011, up from $1.91 billion in 2007, a 17 percent compound annual increase," said Jens Hilgers, CEO of Turtle Entertainment. "With the stellar sales of game stations like the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii added into the equation, gaming technology will clearly emerge an entertainment industry of equivalent value to film and television and one which continues to show significant growth," added Hilgers.