{"id":122,"date":"2019-06-10T17:38:02","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T17:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/tristatesradio.com\/?p=122"},"modified":"2019-06-10T17:38:02","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T17:38:02","slug":"how-illinois-is-becoming-a-major-player-in-the-video-game-universe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/tristatesradio.com\/how-illinois-is-becoming-a-major-player-in-the-video-game-universe\/","title":{"rendered":"How Illinois is becoming a Major Player in the Video Game Universe"},"content":{"rendered":"
It is generally known and accepted that California is where a huge majority of workers in the video game industry reside. <\/span><\/p>\n This is also why E3 is commonly hosted in California which is home to all the latest gaming and hardware releases.<\/span><\/p>\n However, Illinois is not far behind if we read a new report of the Entertainment Software Association. <\/span><\/p>\n This report takes into account the revenue generated for different states and also the number of video game jobs in all these states. <\/span><\/p>\n Illinois has also been amassing revenue through the video game industry and also generation of employment for the state. <\/span><\/p>\n Thus, Illinois is ranked fifth overall in these two categories. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n They have more than 5,900 people employed in this industry in the state. Only four other states rank ahead of Illinois. <\/span><\/p>\n Even in terms of revenue, Illinois ranks high for its $354 million generated annually according to the ESA report. <\/span><\/p>\n This same report has also found that employees in Illinois earned $102,000 compensation on a yearly average in the year 2005. <\/span><\/p>\n These jobs provided by the video game industry are high paying, creatively stimulating and technical jobs. <\/span><\/p>\n While most of the focus has been on states like California, New York, Texas and Washington, the state of Illinois has been slowing but surely building up their gaming industry. <\/span><\/p>\n The city of Chicago has been fundamental in this wave of growth in terms of gaming creativity and innovation. <\/span><\/p>\n Midway Games is the most popular developer and publisher of video games to come from Chicago. <\/span><\/p>\n This company has created games such as NBA Jam, NFL Blitz and Mortal Kombat. This company filed for bankruptcy, but in its place many other companies have come up. <\/span><\/p>\n Illinois has a ranking of 6th according to the ESA for having 97 companies that are related to the video game industry. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Deep Silver, Phosphor Games and Noggin Labs are some of the major local players. Other companies like Zynga have offices here, as does Electronic Arts. <\/span><\/p>\n Illinois State has also been working to increase education in this field. <\/span><\/p>\n This is evident in the 16 programs in various colleges, which focus on the video game world. <\/span><\/p>\n This creates continuity in terms of what students\u2019 study and their career. The Entertainment Software Association also takes this criterion into account in their studies. <\/span><\/p>\n This is done by the creation of an interactive map that shows the different college courses available and also the companies in each state. <\/span><\/p>\n With E3 2019 currently in full swing, it is great to see Illinois being so well represented at the event. <\/span><\/p>\n If you are a gaming enthusiast you will be spoilt for choice with big name titles being release. <\/span><\/p>\n