GAMING DOWN UNDER – THE STATS
SOME ENTICING NUMBERS FROM BOND UNIVERSITY’S ‘DIGITAL AUSTRALIA REPORT 2018’Of households with
children have a video-
game device. Eight
out of 10 of these have
more than one.Proportion of
Australians who play
video games, either
through consoles,
PCs, handheld or
mobile devices.Average number
of minutes a day
people spend
playing video games.Of people play
alone, with most
playing with
family, friends
or strangers.Of video game
players comprised
of women, up five
per cent from
a decade ago.Of parents play
games online with
their children.(^97) % (^44) % (^898) % (^46) %
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geek overlord and rock star – with the latter’s
hovering PRs stepping in to answer
questions considered beyond his remit.
He too sees exponential future growth,
or, as he puts it, “tonnes of hybridisation”.
“VR and AR are opening new possibilities
that the technology is not yet meeting, but
history has shown us that it will,” Guesdon
tells GQ. “With VR, I think games will only
be a small portion of it, we can do much more
- medical, engineering, complex assemblies,
and all of these will benefit from technology
that comes from the world of gaming.”
Another area set to boom is gaming’s
move into education. A fact not lost on
Ubisoft which has included an explorable
ancient Egyptian world that children can
interact with alongside the Origins release.
It costs no extra and unlike the game itself,
is for all ages. It’s a first in the field and
is couched by the Ubisoft team as a
magnanimous gesture in which it wants
to give a broader range of users the
opportunity to share the beauty – and it
is beautiful – of the world they’ve created.
But it’s hardly a stretch to assume this could
easily fit into a longer-term strategy where
in addition to being in most every home,
they find their way into schools, too.
Finn Kelly, chief investment officer at
gen-Y-centric finance organisation Wealth
Enhancers, believes gaming stocks are well
worth considering. “The industry has a lot of
growth ahead because of the combination of
the increase in direct purchase and download
of video games, along with the rapid growth
of mobile gaming and the huge global
opportunity with competitive gaming or
e-sports,” says Kelly. “These factors provide
the opportunity to expand margins which
will result in greater returns for the investor.”
In terms of specific tips, Kelly believes
“EA Sports is a good diversified play as it’s
effectively buying up a number of the
up-and-comers. Take-Two is another large
company that could have more potential
upside. Another great, cost-effective and
easy way to get exposure would be to buy
the Gaming Exchange Traded Fund stock
code GA MR, which is traded on the US
exchange. This provides you exposure to
the entire industry.”
Even Nasdaq recently got on board by
urging investors to consider a sector whichit states’ “pulls in more revenue than
music and movies”.
Still, Marcus Padley, a stockbroker with 32
years experience and the driving force behind
the Marcus Today investment advice
subscription service, warns that there are
both challenges and costs involved. “You have
to go overseas,” he says. “Markets like the
United States are accessible – try NAB Trade
which did a push into international equities
a few months ago – but brokers do charge
slightly more than when accessing the local
market and it can be slightly prohibitive. You
also have to pay American withholding taxes
if you do get a dividend and there’s quite a bit
of paperwork involved initially. When
starting out, stick with the big players like
EA or Activision but remember you’re buying
the equivalent of Comm Bank shares, so
they’re going to be expensive. Then, once
you get a sense of the market, sit by the pool
with a cocktail and diversify your holdings
by asking which companies are poised to
do something totally unexpected.”
From there, much like Assassin’s Creed
itself, it’s about personal plotting on how to
make a killing. n assassinscreed.ubisoft.comMEN OF THE YEAR 2017 GQ.COM.AU 125