The US games industry grew 18% in 2017

A new report from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and The NPD Group has great news for the gaming industry in the US, which has generated a record $35 billion USD in revenue last year, an increase of 18% when compared to 2016.

The figure itself features hardware revenue, including peripherals, as well as physical and digital software revenue, including in-game purchases and subscriptions. Both of these reportedly had strong growth, with hardware growing slightly more than software year-on-year.

"The spectacular growth of our industry in 2017 proves video game developers, artists, and storytellers are the brightest lights in the US economy, finding more ways to delight the world's 2.6 billion gamers each year," said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of ESA. "Congratulations to our industry's brilliant creators on delivering another record year of remarkable entertainment that inspired the passion of gamers everywhere."

Last year saw a lot of big events in the world of gaming, be it the release of the Switch and Xbox One X in hardware, or great games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Super Mario Odyssey, just to name a few. Did you expect such positive results in 2017?