UK games market returns to growth… sort of

The UK physical games market has grown for the first time in five years.

The combined number of games, accessories and consoles sold in 2013 are down seven per cent year-on-year, but revenue generated from these products is up seven per cent over 2012 to 2.04bn.

This is mostly down to a huge increase in console sales – driven by Xbox One and PlayStation 4. 2.9m video game machines (including handhelds) were sold last year generated 625m in revenue. That’s an increase of five per cent in units and 38 per cent in revenue. Xbox One and PS4 accounted for over 326m of that revenue.

However, the software market posted its lowest figures since the turn of the century. 34.5m games were sold, a drop of 13 per cent over 2012, generated just over 1bn, a drop of three per cent.

The drop is due to a fall in sales of big blockbusters such as Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty and Battlefield, although it would have been much worse had it not been for the impressive performances of FIFA 14 and Grand Theft Auto V.

Of course, this data does not include digital download sales, which is the fastest-growing games sector.Accessories also saw a slight one per cent rise in units sold to 25.2m games sold, although revenue fell by four per cent over 2012 to 403m.

Software sales courtesy of UKIE/GfK Chart-Track. Accessories and console data via GfK Chart-Track.