When "Dark Knight," the latest installment of the Batman film franchise, hit movie screens in July, it took in $158.4 million during the first three days of its release, setting a record for a film's opening weekend.

When "Grand Theft Auto 4," the latest installment of the Rockstar video game, hit stores in April, it rang up $310 million in sales during its first day.

With those statistics and many others, Michael Gallagher, president and chief executive officer of the Entertainment Software Association, made his case to members of the Economic Club yesterday, that the video game industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and that Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania should consider how to participate in that growth.

Today's video games are multimillion-dollar productions that take two to three years to create, Mr. Gallagher said. That makes them significant job creators; the industry now employs some 80,000 nationwide, and that number is expected to triple within two years. The average annual salary for industry workers is $92,300.

Governments are competing for that job-creation, he said. For instance, Texas governor Rick Perry signed a bill last year approving grants to cover up to 5 percent of in-state spending on video game projects, up to $250,000.

But Mr. Gallagher cautioned that job creation could become a "storm cloud" over the industry, as those jobs could wind up outside the United States if more states do not offer incentives. Montreal has already made itself a prime destination by offering tax credits that subsidize 35 percent of wages in video game companies.

"We're going to have to really work to keep our position at the head of the pack," he said.

He also said that government needs to help create "an environment that respects the intellectual property investment that's being made" by video game companies. Intellectual property issues came to the forefront in the gaming community last week, with the release of "Spore," created by the "Sims" originator Will Wright. The game's digital rights management software (DRM) limits users to three installations of the game unless the buyer calls distributor Electronic Arts for permission for more installations.

Mr. Gallagher said such measures were entirely appropriate.

"From what I understand about Spore," he said, "three-quarters of purchasers will download the game to only one computer. Electronic Arts expects that only 1 percent will download it to more than three computers. The marketplace will decide how this works out, but the steps that EA has taken are just like what iTunes does."