Here in Canada, digital entertainment is now beyond being a pastime for people. Yes, it is still something people love, but far above that, it is now a real economic force. As such, the Canadian economy now accounts for those who engage in streaming, gaming, creator platforms, virtual events and other types of interactive experiences.
So, when you’re looking at the numbers, don’t be surprised by how much these things we consider as “digital economy” contribute to the overall growth of the country. In this piece, we’ll shed more light on the growing impact, highlighting how it works now.
Why Digital Entertainment Now Moves Real Economic Numbers
The main reason why digital entertainment is a force to reckon with is because it manages to bring several areas of life together. Within this same sector, we can see the combination of technology, culture and also daily habits, in a very seamless way.
And one may ask how this is possible; the answer is right in front of you. Most of our leisure time now happens through screens and some sort of subscriptions. As such, we now see connected communities rather than one-off purchases.
That is from a consumer standpoint. Now, let’s look at it from an economic point of view too.
The first channel this “impact” comes through is direct consumer spending. This refers to your streaming memberships, in-game purchases and digital event access.
After that, you now begin to look at the infrastructure behind it, that is, what makes it possible. As such, we consider cloud services, date centres, broadband networks, payment processing and the devices we Canadians like to upgrade to keep up.
Beyond the infrastructure, we can then talk about the jobs, and this is not just about content creators. At the root of it all, we have developers, animators, UI designers, sound engineers, moderators, marketers and customer support teams.
By now, you should see the full picture and be convinced that digital entertainment is not just about selling content to you. Rather, it supports a proper ecosystem of services and skilled work that will continue to scale globally.
Where the Money Circulates (and Who Benefits)
The next question would be regarding who “benefits” from this ecosystem apart from you consumers, and the answer is that everyone does. But how? Let’s look at how this money circulates.
Interactive Entertainment as a “Time-Spent” Economy
In digital entertainment, value goes beyond what people buy. Rather, they start to look at how long they stay engaged in doing some activities. Examples of these interactive entertainment are online multiplayer games, live streams, virtual events and game-show style experiences, but that is not even where we’re driving out.
The point is that all those “experiences” rely heavily on constant updates, moderation, customer support and ongoing maintenance. In extension, it means more work for developers and artists, as well as trust-and-safety teams, platform operation and live production staff. So, the next time you’re looking for casinos to play craps online, you can understand that it goes beyond what the eyes meet. Rather there are big teams constantly working behind the scenes to make you have seamless entertainment.
Platforms Ecosystems and Recurring Revenues
A big part of this economic impact also comes from recurring payments that go into revenues like:
- Monthly subscriptions and bundles: These are for video, music and game libraries, and when people pay for things, they demand content. That is enough “incentive” to support production crews, editors, writers, sound teams and also distribution work.
- Ad-supported streaming and short-form video: Most of us don’t like ads, but their presence in videos is one of the reasons why the platforms hosting them are less costly. At the same time, it is also an opportunity for brands, agencies and independent creators to earn through sponsored content and paid campaigns.
- Creator economy: At the same time, the creator’s community now goes beyond the one-man show. Your favourite creators can now afford to work with designers, thumbnail artists, community managers, accountants and small studios that handle the heavy-liting of editing, motion graphics and short-form repurposing.
From Canadian POV: Culture GDP + Game Development as Export Strength
People just “watch and play” in Canada. It is genuinely part of a bigger economy that is recognized in national statistics, paycheques and even export activities. You can see it in reports like those from Statistics Canada that shows the country’s nominal GDP rising to $70.6 billion in 2023, making a good 2.3% of the economy-wide GDP.
We should also mention that digital entertainment matters so much to us because we don’t just consume it, we also contribute to building it. A good example is with game development that is recognized as one of Canada’s fortes. We now have studios and teams operating across the country, employing and working with more people. Even the statistics support this; report from the Entertainment Software Association of Canada makes it known to us that an ecosystem of 821 companies employs 34,010 people and generates up to $5.2 billion in economic impact.
Understanding the combination of strong and consistent creativity with global distribution explains why digital entertainment means a lot to this country.
What is Next?
As for what is next, all we can say is that the only way from now is up. Technology is getting better, and we’re seeing things like improved personalization and recommendation engines, AR/VR with mixed-reality, AI-assisted production to speed up the behind-the-scenes process, so the best is yet to come. Within the next few years, the improvement will surely be more massive.
