Free games now account for half of the European games market

New data from Ipsos Media CT and ISFE suggests that free-to-play games accounted for half of the European games market in the last 12 months.

By half of the market, that means that F2P accounted for around 50 per cent of titles acquired in the period.

It also claims that the value and size of the Q2 1012 games market has tumbled in all major European territories compared to Q1 2012. It estimates a UK market value of €291m in the period, putting it behind Germany (€351m) but ahead of France (€256m).

It also suggests that just 37 per cent of the UK population has played a game of any type in the last 12 months compared to 51 per cent in France. Germany tracked at 35 per cent and Spain at 31 per cent.

Traditionally, Q4 is the strongest [quarter] of every year,” ISFE MD Simon Little stated. It will be interesting to see the extent to which the shifting dynamics impact on the Christmas shopping period later this year.”