GCDC: Global market still has room to grow - Buena Vista VP

Graham Hopper, senior VP for Buena Vista Games, has declared that the games industry is still failing to target the world's "ungamed billions" - and that there is still plenty of scope for growth.

Speaking at the Leipzig GCDC, Hopper stated: "Most game publishers only really look at three regions of the world - they look at Japan, they look at North America, they look at Western Europe, and that comprises the world.

"But if you think about it, there's barely 1 billion people in those markets. That means we're leaving 5 billion people out, who I call the "ungamed billions" - people who have barely begun to play games."

According to Hopper, there are "countries, in fact even continents, who are barely on the map" as far as the games industry is concerned.

"I'm thinking of countries like Russia, India and China," he continued, adding: "We haven't even scratched the surface of what's possible."

Hopper went on to discuss some of BVG's forthcoming titles, including the Desperate Housewives TV tie-in and a new instalment in the Turok series. However, he warned against trying to promote a franchise via several different media simultaneously, stating: "You look at anything that has grown to become a cross-media phenomenon, it's always had a strong success in a particular place.

"So what you won't see us doing is greenlighting a movie and a game and a TV series all at the same time, just because there's a great idea. We want to see it in the marketplace as a game, and then we can talk about conditional iterations of it down the road."