BATON ROUGE, La. -- A consortium has been formed to push the development of the video game industry in Baton Rouge, which backers say will provide high-paying jobs that will stay in the area.
The Baton Rouge Area Digital Industries Consortium will use the resources of Louisiana State University, the mayor's office, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and the Baton Rouge Area Foundation to recruit gaming companies and develop the accompanying work force.
The consortium will be headed by Stacey Simmons, director for special projects at LSU's Center for Computation and Technology and co-creator of the Red Stick International Animation Festival.
The group plans to build on the animation festival and state tax credits targeted to digital media companies that are similar to the film tax credits that have drawn movie production to Louisiana.
Simmons said companies are feeling pressure to relocate outside the U.S. to Europe and Canada because of economic incentives offered there. Louisiana is well-positioned with its digital media tax credit and tax incentives to put company headquarters in the state.
Simmons said gaming industry jobs start at $40,000 to $55,000 a year and, unlike the movie industry, "these jobs stay here."
The production cycle on a video game is between three and five years. A single video game in a small production house can create 35 jobs, and a medium to large one up to 250 jobs.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, computer and console software alone was a $7.4 billion industry last year.
"The game industry is not going away," Simmons said. "It's only getting bigger. The average age of a gamer is 34, that gives you a pretty wide swath of people who are playing games."
Publish Date:
09-07-2007
