The blockbuster arrival of the latest Halo put the UK games market back on track.
The 360 exclusive helped retailers make over £28m in sales. It was the best week for games retail all year, and a far cry from the week prior, when the UK market value plummeted to its lowest level since May 2006.
According to MCV calculations based on GfK Chart-Track data, retailers have made £761.5 million on software so far this year, a drop of 16 per cent compared to the same period in 2009. But at last there is reason to cheer, with a new Chart-Track report predicting that UK retail is on course to generate another £700m in game sales over the next three months.
Certainly, the big releases now come thick and fast. FIFA 11 kicks off the busy Q4 season next week, with a major multiplatform blockbuster due out every week until December – including PES, Medal of Honor, Fallout: New Vegas, Wii Party, Just Dance 2, The Sims 3, Gran Turismo 5, Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty: Black Ops.
However, despite the uplift, there’s much distance to cover if the UK market hopes to match 2009’s sales.
Having generated £761.5m in 2010 so far, UK retail will have to rake in just under £1bn if it hopes to match 2009’s performance of £1.621bn. Alas, Gfk Chart-Track says the UK games software market is currently set to make £1.475 billion this year, a decline of nine per cent.
Advertisement
