A new report from market analysts Verdict Research has forecast that gaming is on track to overtake both music and film to become the UK’s number one entertainment choice by the end of the year.

The BBC reports that spending on gaming will rise by 42 per cent to reach £4.64 billion by December 31st. It predicts the combined spend on music and film to hit just £4.46 billion.

Verdict’s Malcolm Pinkerton stated: “The music and video market is not just suffering from a slowing of growth but a massive transfer of spend to online.”

However, the Entertainment Retailers Association is more cautious with its assessment, with the body’s Steve Redmond stating: “There is no doubt that the games sector is having a fantastic year but these figures overstate that by including games hardware.

“Our prediction is that games will overtake video by the end of this year but not music and video combined.”