UK games market suffers June blues

The value of the UK games hardware market for year-to-date is 2010 has dropped a disappointing 32 per cent compared to 2009, representing a total value loss of 122m.

Mirroring what was seen in the US, portables were the biggest offender thanks to a 40 per cent decline. Home consoles fell by 29 per cent.

The software market was also down, plummeting by 23 per cent last month compared to June 2009.

According to GfK Chart-Track, the number of games sold also fell by 22 per cent.

The disappointing results came despite the release of Nintendo’s critically acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy 2, which couldn’t quite unseat Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption – No.1 for the second month in a row.

The release of Galaxy 2 however has helped Nintendo to improve its market share, with the platform holder reclaiming the No.1 position as the publisher that sold the largest number of games last month. However, the relatively lower price of Nintendo titles means that Take-Two retains its position as the publisher that generated the most revenue from games.

Looking at formats, Xbox 360 came out on top as the platform most people bought games on. However, the gap between 360 and PS3 is beginning to narrow month-on-month.

In terms of money generated by games, the top seven was unchanged with Xbox 360 the leading format, followed by PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, PC, PSP and PS2. Microsoft’s console took almost one third of the market with 31.5 per cent of revenue generated from software sales.

There has also been a slight increase for money made by PC and PSP games. The former benefited from EA’s expansion pack The Sims 3: Ambitions, while PSP was boosted by the highly anticipated release of Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker.

Other titles that performed well throughout June included 2010 FIFA World Cup, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Just Dance, Wii Fit Plus and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.