Game manufacturers earned 49.5 billion euros worldwide in 2018

The manufacturers of online and offline games of chance can look back on a successful 2018 financial year. According to the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), the international industry association, worldwide sales grew to almost 50 billion euros.
The latest figures were published by AGEM on Thursday. The study commissioned for this purpose by the association underscores the great economic importance of the industry with the facts it contains.

High growth rates

At the same time, the report makes it clear how dynamically vending machine manufacturers and game developers are developing. While the industry’s total turnover in 2014 was still 41 billion euros, it has risen by a good 20% since then.

The industry association AGEM

The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers includes many major manufacturers of online and offline slot machines and related technology and development. The Las Vegas-based association has a total of 175 members from 23 nations.
These include companies such as Aristocrat Technologies, Konami Gaming, and Scientific Games as well as Merkur Gaming from Germany and Novomatic Group from Austria. In addition to formulating common interests and initiatives, the association sees itself as a point of contact for governments and gambling authorities when it comes to legal issues in the industry.

In view of the double-digit billion euro sums that the industry generates annually, it is no wonder that it secures many thousands of jobs worldwide. According to the study, 61,700 workers are directly employed by a company in the industry. Indirectly, the companies in the slot machine industry even secure 221,000 jobs.
Who thinks in view of the increasing legal restrictions to the enterprise of online Casinos and gambling halls that the industry suffers from this development, is wrong: In the comparison to the previous year the conversions rose by approximately 6%.

More and more people are working in the industry

The number of jobs has also grown over the last five years, from 51,000 to 61,700, an increase of 22%. The high salaries paid in the industry show that companies in the slot machine industry are doing well financially.
According to the AGEM, these averaged 80,000 euros in 2018, which is well above the average US income of 45,000 euros. In total, the gambling developers paid 12.5 billion euros to their employees last year.

Marcus Prater, Managing Director of AGEM, commented on the results:

Established suppliers are growing, while new companies are entering the market. The study shows that this dynamic sector is fully focused on the development of the global gaming market. In summary, the report paints a picture of a healthy gambling industry where providers rely on modern technologies and games provided by a large number of innovative suppliers. This enables them to constantly offer their customers new and exciting entertainment formats.

The companies also assess their future opportunities as extremely positive. In a survey conducted as part of the study, 92% of the companies stated that they expect demand to rise this year. 58%, therefore, expect sales to grow.
Another indication of the good mood is that none of the industry representatives indicated that they intended to cut jobs in the next 12 months. 46 %, on the other hand, intend to hire more employees and continue to invest large sums in the development of new offers.
But the companies also want to continue investing in their employees. The majority of those surveyed plan to provide employees with further benefits in the form of improved health and retirement provisions or higher salaries.
This clearly shows that, despite worldwide efforts by governments and gambling protection organizations to limit gambling activities, providers remain optimistic about the future.