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Forums - Sales Discussion - UK video game sales drop for the first time since 2012

HollyGamer on 03 January 2020

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-03-uk-video-game-sales-drop-for-the-first-time-since-2012

" Physical sales plunge as digital growth slows " 

" The physical sales of video games in the UK dropped by 19.8% last year.

17.6 million boxed games were sold by retailers, according to GfK. In total, these games generated £602.5 million in revenue, which is a drop of 21.7% year-on-year.

Digital sales fared better, but growth was just 1.1% to £3.17 billion (IHS estimates). The data has been compiled together by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA)

Combined together, UK video game sales generated £3.77 billion in 2019, which is a drop of 3.4% over 2018. It is the first time that the UK games software market has seen a drop in revenue since 2012.

It's not completely surprising considering 2019 was the final full year of the console cycle, where sales tend to slowdown (just as it did in 2012 in the year before the PS4 and Xbox One arrived). 2019 was also notable for a lack of many major game releases -- out of the ten best-selling boxed games in 2019, only six were actually released last year."

ERA CEO Kim Bayley said: "The key message from the games business in 2019 is we need those two new consoles from PlayStation and Xbox -- and soon."



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Random_Matt on 03 January 2020

RIP.



Metallox on 03 January 2020
Shadow1980 said:
It's almost like the market is cyclical or something...

Back around 2011-2012, there was some hand-wringing over declining game sales, with some even predicting doom and gloom for the console market. But that decline was because we were at the end of last generation. In 2012, the Wii's sales had collapsed entirely, the 360 and PS3 were finally past their peak, and the handheld market was way down from its late 00s heights, with the 3DS and Vita not making up for declining DS & PSP sales. But then the PS4 and XBO were released, and the home console market rebounded, and the market was back on the upswing. But now we're at the end of the current generation. The PS4 and XBO are on the way out, with sales in decline. The 3DS is nearing death's door and hasn't had a hit game since 2017. Only the Switch, which is still young but quickly approaching middle age, is up from 2018, and it hasn't been enough to offset losses from other platforms.

Sums it up nicely. Thank you. 



My bet with The_Liquid_Laser: I think the Switch won't surpass the PS2 as the best selling system of all time. If it does, I'll play a game of a list that The_Liquid_Laser will provide, I will have to play it for 50 hours or complete it, whatever comes first.