Austin is known for many things from being the “Live Music Capital of the World” to the annual South By Southwest (SXSW) Festival and now to being one of the best cities for gamers. A new study from WalletHub Study shows Austin to be the 3rd best city for gamers.
This is no surprise since this year at the newly expanded SXSW Gaming Expo it had well over 40,000 attendees not including those who bought tickets the day of the events. Austin is also home to the annual Classic Game Fest which has over 4,000 attendees and 70,000 square feet of retro gaming activities. The Classic Game Fest is also one of the top 10 retro gaming festivals in the USA and celebrating it’s 10th year in Austin on July 29th through July 30th.
Per WalletHub, globally nearly a billion players contribute to an over $100 billion industry. About half of U.S. adults play video games. Nearly two in three households are home to at least one gamer who plays an average of three to four hours per week. In 2016 video games dwarfed total movie-ticket sales around the world by a good $62.5 billion. For 2017 gaming revenues in the United States are expected to exceed $25 billion by end of year.* It’s an industry that will continue to grow, especially now with the fast growing popularity of virtual reality.
How was Austin chosen by WalletHub to be the 3rd best city for gamers besides our southern charm?
To determine the best places to be a serious gamer WalletHub compared the 100 largest cities across 20 key indicators of gamer-friendliness. The data ranges from average internet speed to video-game stores per capita to number of esports tournaments.
Here are their findings of the Gamer Lifestyle in Austin that were based on % of Households Broadband Connection, Internet Cost, Video-Game Stores per Capita, Arcades per Capita, % of Adults Owning a Smartphone, and % of Households Owning a Computer:
- 26th – % of Households with Broadband Connection
- 29th – Internet Cost
- 28th – Video-Game Stores per Capita
- 6th – Arcades per Capita
- 10th – % of Adults Owning a Smartphone
- 24th – % of Households Owning a Computer
Below are WalletHub findings of worst and best gaming cities out of the 100 compared that were also based on % of Households Broadband Connection, Internet Cost, Video-Game Stores per Capita, Arcades per Capita, % of Adults Owning a Smartphone, and % of Households Owning a Computer:
These are very telling results and one thing is for certain, gaming is not going any where anytime soon! It will remain a growing industry for children and adults alike.
One of the cool things about being a technology writer and living in Austin proper is getting the option to help pick the SXSW 2018 panels. This allows the SXSW community to have a significant voice in programming, which can take the form of panels, solo talks, workshops, mentor positions, and more, during the SXSW Gaming, SXSW, and SXSWedu Conferences. I am definitely going to that SXSW meet-up in hopes to be a 2018 SXSW Gaming PanelPicker®.
If you have any ideas or know of someone you want on any of these SXSW panels fill out the below contact form or email us at news@hi-techchic.com. Keep checking back for updates on 2018 SXSW Gaming Panel information, my recap of the 10th annual Classic Game Fest and general gaming posts throughout the year.
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Source: SXSW, Classic Game Fest, WalletHub, esports
*Direct cites from WalletHub
**1=Best; 50=Avg.
