Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business

Chapter 1 An Introduction to Games, and Why They Matter

These are good times for the video game industry. While growth in the movie industry has been slow and while the music business has contracted, games have grown at double-digit rates. Games are now on the verge of eclipsing the music industry¹ and have already surpassed Hollywood box office revenues.² Microsoft’s Halo 3, one of the most anticipated video games ever launched, earned $170 million in the United States alone within 24 hours—more than the theatrical release of the movie Spider-Man 3 or the novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.³ And if you’re not impressed by those numbers, consider this: A survey taken in 2007 found that more people in Calgary, Toronto, and Halifax could ...