Mamas, better let your babies grow up to be coders.
With apologies to Waylon Jennings, who romanticized cowboys while semi-ironically urging mothers to steer their children away from the ranch, perhaps parents should indulge their kids.
That is, maybe they should not only let their kids play those video games, but learn how to write the software behind them.
Because there has to be more demand for this than for cowboys. At least in Georgia.
Getting to the point: the video game industry is now responsible for 3,200 jobs in the state, averaging pay of $96,000 a year, according to a report by the Entertainment Software Association.
That represents a hefty premium over the state’s average household income of about $54,000.
(What is the average pay for cowboys in Georgia? Unclear. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, our usual go-to folks for such things, do not seem to have that occupation listed. After all, we're not Texas or Colorado.)
Like the most successful digital-centered businesses, the ratio of revenue to employee is high: overall, the video game industry generates $168 million in revenue in the state, the report said.
Michael Gallagher, president and chief executive of the association, called this key information for the state: "The data we share today details a roadmap for economic growth in Georgia, and the power of cultivating high-paying, technical careers in interactive entertainment."
Employment in the industry has been growing at 5 percent a year, according to the association.
Nationally, there are 65,678 workers directly working for game software publishers and developers, according to the Entertainment Software Association. That breaks down thusly: video game publishers employ 28,556 while video game developers employ 37,122.
Yeah, tell it to Waylon.
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