Thad McIlroy - The Future of Publishing

1. The two major associations that support computer gaming are the Entertainment Software Association (esa) and the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

2. A very thorough, readable, credible and up-to-date (November 2007) report "Video Games in the 21st Century" by the Entertainment Software Association, focused on the economics of the "entertainment software industry" is available here.

3. Complementing that report is another from the same association, "2007 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry," focused more on the who and why aspects of computer gaming.

4. The gaming insider's sites include www.gamasutra.com and the GamePro group of sites, packed with more reviews, data, analysis and gossip than you might care to peruse. There's also Kotaku, with "gossip, news and leaks for obsessive gamers," and Joystiq, "launched in June 2004 as an alternative to the junket-ridden, glorified press release fodder that passed for video game journalism at large mainstream media gaming news outlets."

5. The gaming sites for multiplayer games include www.multiplayergames.com, "created by gamers (as the) source for a fresh perspective on the world of online, multiplayer gaming," and www.mmogchart.com, "dedicated to (Bruce Sterling Woodcock's) research in tracking the growth of subscription-based Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs)."

6. Here's a rough transcript of an interview at the D6 conference with Bobby Kotick CEO of Activision (ATVI), one of the industry's largest computer game companies, with net revenues of approximately $2.7 billion. Some video highlights of the interview are available also.

7. What Role Will Advertising Play in the $40 Billion Video Game Industry?
DFC Intelligence offers a well-reasoned scenario for the likely growth in advertising revenue for the video game industry in an article from its website.