EVERY BUYER EVERY BRANCH EVERY WEEK Issue 675 Friday February 17th 2012 £3.25
Revealed: The REAL size of the UK games market
Tough times for some, but UK games market still healthy as mobile, downloads and toys pick up the slack
by Michael French
FOR THE first time, we can reveal the true value of the UK games market, showing that consumers spent over £3bn on their hobby in 2011. This impressive figure – which includes data on online, mobile, and merchandising – flies in the face of conventional wisdom which says market shrinkage hit during the last 12 months. In fact, when you combine data from some of the most respected research agencies, as we have here, you see game brands are more powerful than ever, even if the core High Street is facing some of its most challenging trading weeks. Add online revenues to boxed market data and it’s clear digital made up 30 per cent of a £2bn software market last year.
2011 was also a watershed year for spin-off toys, DVDs and soundtracks, making £70m in revenue last year.
ONLINE GAMES BRITAIN’S £3.266 BILLION GAMES BONANZA
MOBILE GAMING
Xbox Live subscriptions, casual and social gaming, download-to-own and streaming/on-demand games
£520m TOYS & MERCHANDISE
Spin-off toys and products based on video game properties such as Sonic, Moshi Monstersand Mario
£60m EVENTS
Price paid for tickets to games consumer shows and expos
£2.2m PERIPHERALS & ACCESSORIES
Hardware plus Xbox Live and PlayStation Network pre-paid cards
£646m
Download-to-own apps and in-game purchases
£158m DVD & MUSIC
Soundtracks, adaptations and movie/anime spin-offs
£7.5m
£453m CONSOLES
Spending on pure games machines
BOXED SOFTWARE
PC and console games sold on the High Street, at supermarkets or via online retailers
£1.42bn MCV AWARDS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
63 different businesses nominated 20 brands on shortlist 28 retailers competing Did you make it? Turn over to find out
Source: Juniper Research
Source: Official Charts Company and label estimates