This year’s rAge event, South Africa’s premiere game, tech and geek culture expo, saw attendance figures rise by 6% as compared to those of last year, as 19 488 enthusiasts visited the Coca Cola Dome in Johannesburg over the course of the three day show to drink in all the latest (and unreleased) games and hardware spread out around the show floor.

rAge 2009 show director Michael James was more than pleased with the figures, as he enthused in a statement:

“The fact that we had an extremely successful show supports our initial indications that South Africa’s technology and gaming industry is proving to be recession-resilient.

“The equipment and gear featured at this year’s show sold like hotcakes and are by no means low-cost ticket items,” James continued. “It shows the growing maturity of the gaming industry in SA and the disposable income of South African gamers.”

Now in its seventh year, rAge 2009’s improvement in attendance figures over last year goes against the recent trends of a drop in visitor numbers experienced by international consumer shows, as well as concerns over the current global economic climate.

“We were very aware of the economic environment in which we find ourselves this year,” said James, “and maintained conservative expectations of even equalling last year’s visitor figures.”

“The expo’s consistent year-on-year growth is also attributed to the phenomenal support it enjoys from our exhibitors who invest enormously in marketing their participation to their clients,” explained James. “1,822 NAG LAN tickets sold out in a record two days and was an exceptionally successful event, also boasting its highest number of gamers to date.”

James claimed that the NAG LAN this year was one of the largest LANs in Africa, with the addition of 340 VIP players to boost the total number of networked gamers up to 2162.

We look forward to next year!

Be sure to read through El33tonline’s coverage of rAge 2009, as well as listen to our interview with Michael James for further insights.