According to the latest report by AESVI (the Italian Videogames Association), in 2017 the Italian videogames sector generated turnover of just under €1.5 billion, with an increase across all segments: consoles, accessories, and physical and digital software.
Software generated revenue of over €1 billion (€1,049 million), representing 71% of the total market in 2017. 35% of this revenue was from sales of physical software, and 65% from sales of digital software. Sales of physical software, or rather packaged software, increased by 7% on 2016, with turnover of over €370 million. Turning to digital software, turnover generated by Apps amounted to €385 million, while digital downloads on consoles and PCs generated revenue of €294 million.
When it comes to the profile of Italian gamers, 57% of Italians aged between the ages of 16 and 64, which corresponds to around 17 million people, played videogames at some point in 2017. Of them, 59% were men and 41% were women. Breaking these percentages down further by age, a significant number of female gamers (13%) fell into the 25-34 age category, whereas male gamers largely fell into the 25-34, 35-44, and 45-54 age categories (15%, 13% and 12% respectively). All the statistics on the market and consumers are available in the official document.