Health-related games such as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active and Dance Dance Revolution have generated over $2 billion in the past 18 months, according to Ben Sawyer, co-founder of US-based The Games for Health Project.
"Healthcare is 18 percent of the GDP of the United States and so games for health is probably the largest sector of activity in the serious games field long-term," he told Reuters.
The report suggests that interest in health games is growing steadily, with the attendance at this year’s Boston-based Games for Health Conference up from 100 to 390 people.
"The White House should launch a national initiative to promote research and development of proven games," said Dr. Michael Levine, executive director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Centre at Sesame Workshop, a centre devoted to accelerating children's learning.