Physical game sales fell by 20% last quarter, says Kantar

Physical game sales have fallen 20 per cent year-on-year, according to Kantar Worldpanel’s latest quarterly entertainment barometer report, with the limited number of new releases also affecting GAME’s share of the overall physical entertainment market.

GAME’s market share fell by 2.5 per cent year-on-year, according to Kantar’s figures, which is the biggest decline in the firm’s list of retailers. It now has a market share of 6.4 per cent overall.

Likewise, gaming titles only made up two of the top ten physical entertainment titles of the past three months. This is down from five year-on-year, but Kantar says this is partly due to a lighter release schedule than this time last year.

Amazon, meanwhile, remained top of the table with a 20.6 per cent share of the market, but this was also down by 1.3 per cent compared to the same time last year. A strong quarter for music, meanwhile, allowed HMW to climb up to No.2 with a 15.4 per cent market share, while Tesco fell by 1.6 per cent to No.3 with a market share of 13.4 per cent.

Kantar Worldpanel analyst Olivia Moore commented: Amazon remained the biggest entertainment retailer, taking its highest market share of 2017 so far despite year-on-year share decline. Meanwhile, fewer gaming releases than last year took their toll on GAME’s share of the market, down 2.5 percentage points on this time last year. Argos fared better, adding 0.8 percentage points to its overall market share and accounting for over a fifth of planned spending on games during the latest quarter: good news for new owner Sainsbury’s.

Gaming titles accounted for only two of the top 10 titles across physical entertainment during the past three months – down from five last year – thanks to a quieter release slate during the latest quarter. Shoppers are also buying games less often, playing top titles for longer before making a new purchase – great for customers’ wallets, but a challenge for gaming retailers.”