Support NeoGAF

[Monkeylord]

PAL markets are rockin' it (especially us in the UK!) - makes you wonder why those of us in the PAL areas still get shafted on release dates, price, content, etc.

I mean, I know the standard reasons (translation time, licensing, etc), but in all fairness we all still get treated like we're on the bottom rung of the ladder (see the PAL version of Madworld, for a good example of what I mean).



Hopefully similar reports are being run by the software/hardware devs and we'll see a shift towards even more universal levels of service and content.

 

[Psychotext]

Woohoo... go UK!

\o/

 

[Brakara]

Norway's market share should be 0.18%, not 0.78%.

 

[lochnesssnowman]

Interestingly enough, the proportion of the UK within Europe is almost exactly the same as reported in 07. Some wondered if the UK's growth rate meant it's share had been growing, but it seems the overall euro growth rate has been keeping up with it.

Looking at this report - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/uk-games-market-worth-GBP4-03bn-in-2008 - based on ELSPA figures, shows a much healthier growth for the UK last year when keeping the figures in £ (pounds).

Based on my math (working backwards from 2008 figures in the above link) -

	2007	%change	2008
HW	1.247	14	1.422	
SW	1.549	23	1.905
Acc.	.302	82	.549	
Total	3098	30	4.034

Gives 30% growth from 2007 to 2008. Looking at the report provided: the same growth is 18.7%. Because this report provides figures in Euros, the swing in the exchange rate (GBP -> EUR) towards the Euro looks to have dampened the UK's growth somewhat. Presumably, a further conversion to dollars has skewed the figures again though I'm not sure how that's changed in the past year.

Growth for the other (large) markets on the report:

France 	18.6%
Germany	12.1%
Spain 	-1.6%
Italy 	21.7%

Maybe there's a difference in how the figures were collected. Or my math is wrong. The latter being more likely perhaps.

edit: Actually, seems like GamesIndustry's percentages were wrong - it is 18.7% as sales in UK for 2007 totalled £3.4b according to this from MCV: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/32840/UK-games-market-worth-4bn-in-2008. Though their software figure doesn't match any of the figures from this report from MCV again for 2007: http://www.mcvuk.com/features/176/UK-GAMES-MARKET-2007-The-definitive-report.

 

[nli10]

:lol

*looks outside*

:lol

We had a lovely Rainbow here today

I do wonder what proportion of all those revenues WiiFit accounts for too!

Even if you equate that $ amount to £ I must have spent 3 or 4 times that on games & hardware last year...

And picking up the DSi for this year will do the same.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

Why exactly are people combining multiple countries and trying to label them as one region as if they all have similar tastes and purchasing habits?

 

[Dascu]

Belgium's a bigger market than I had thought.

 

[Spider_Jerusalem]

wow @ UK > JP
wow @ EU > USA

go Europe go!

 

[Captain Chaos]

PAL markets are rockin' it (especially us in the UK!) - makes you wonder why those of us in the PAL areas still get shafted on release dates, price, content, etc.

I mean, I know the standard reasons (translation time, licensing, etc), but in all fairness we all still get treated like we're on the bottom rung of the ladder (see the PAL version of Madworld, for a good example of what I mean).



Hopefully similar reports are being run by the software/hardware devs and we'll see a shift towards even more universal levels of service and content.

I'm not sure thats the case, NOE, I reckon out perform NOA nowadays

 

[Karma]

wow @ UK > JP
wow @ EU > USA

go Europe go!

North America > EU.

 

[Monkeylord]

I'm not sure thats the case, NOE, I reckon out perform NOA nowadays

This isn't just about Nintendo though, I'm also talking about content from XBL/PSN (video marketplace still isn't available in many EU countries, or at all on PSN), the Netflix deal where nothing has been pursued outside of America for a similar service, Hell even loads of the freebie stuff (XBLA games, Gamerpics, Themes, etc) are US only. Virtual console/Wii-Ware releases are all over the place, and it's not unusual to see a 1 VC or 1 Wii-Ware release each week.

Like I said, most of these have reasons including licensing issues, but neither Microsoft or Sony appear to be pursuing anything (this is mainly in relation to the video/Netflix-like services). If they are at least let us know that they're trying.

I just think if all 3 companies want to see more success outside of their home companies they should try to achieve a more universal level of service.

 

[BishopLamont]

This isn't just about Nintendo though, I'm also talking about content from XBL/PSN (video marketplace still isn't available in many EU countries, or at all on PSN), the Netflix deal where nothing has been pursued outside of America for a similar service, Hell even loads of the freebie stuff (XBLA games, Gamerpics, Themes, etc) are US only. Virtual console/Wii-Ware releases are all over the place, and it's not unusual to see a 1 VC or 1 Wii-Ware release each week.

Like I said, most of these have reasons including licensing issues, but neither Microsoft or Sony appear to be pursuing anything (this is mainly in relation to the video/Netflix-like services). If they are at least let us know that they're trying.

I just think if all 3 companies want to see more success outside of their home companies they should try to achieve a more universal level of service.

Yep, all three companies need to treat Europe better, I'm certain they'll be rewarded soundly if they show the effort.

 

[BishopLamont]

After a bit of looking up numbers, if the Wii sells roughly 950k (maybe even 1M in March NPD, then the USA and Europe are basically tied in Wii sales for 2009. Not very surprising since Wii sales in USA just beat out Europe's by 1 million in 2008. If Wii sales rate drop for March NPD, then it'll be the second time that Nintendo has shipped less to America in a quarter, or it means supply is outstripping demand. Although after the monstrous holiday sales, and February sales, I think it's the former rather than the latter.

 

[Phantast2k]

North America > EU.

EU > NA

Spoiler

EU consists of far more countries than listed

*bow* @ UK

 

[Spider_Jerusalem]

This isn't just about Nintendo though, I'm also talking about content from XBL/PSN (video marketplace still isn't available in many EU countries, or at all on PSN), the Netflix deal where nothing has been pursued outside of America for a similar service, Hell even loads of the freebie stuff (XBLA games, Gamerpics, Themes, etc) are US only. Virtual console/Wii-Ware releases are all over the place, and it's not unusual to see a 1 VC or 1 Wii-Ware release each week.

Live Arcade games are coming weekly to both US and Europe since early 2007, I believe. And about streaming movie services, the problem here is thate Europe is too much split in little countries, each with its own legal issues and different management. In USA Microsoft can focus on one great area, while in Europe each country manages the console (services, marketing, events) relatively independently. This makes everything much more messier and difficult: here in Italy we had the Video Marketplace only last holidays, one year later than the US, and the service is basically useless, lacking great movies and missing tv shows at all. They really need to tighten up their european management.

 

[Captain Smoker]

I've added Hong Kong now, these aren't the exact figures, because they are GfK estimates from September 2008, but these are the best numbers that we have.

Revenue:
Total Market: $ 261,000,000
Hardware: $ 189,000,000
Software: $ 72,000,000

Average Console Game Price: $ 44
Average Handheld Software price: $ 28


Units:
Retail Software: 1,900,000
Console Software: 1,300,000
Handheld Software: 600,000

Hardware: 720,000

source: GfK



First post: Click me

 

[Kenka]

Hong Kong ? Geez.

 

[Nuclear Muffin]

UK is rididculous considering the size of the population! (Isn't it the highest density of game purchasers in the world then according to this?)

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

#Rule Brittania!#

No doubt the supermarkets pursuing some aggressive pricing on new titles is spurring on the industry, may it continue for a long, long time.

 

[markom58]

Why exactly are people combining multiple countries and trying to label them as one region as if they all have similar tastes and purchasing habits?

What do you expect them to do? Compare a single EU country against the behemoth that is the US of A?

 

[itxaka]

Holy fuck, we are a bunch of pirates with our Italian friends.

 

[cvxfreak]

I don't think the UK's status as second place in the world in terms of revenue will last because of where it's currency is at the moment. Right now it's cheaper for me to buy games there than from the U.S. before shipping, while Japanese games have become considerably more pricey. One month ago, if I were to use a no forex-charge Capital One credit card at market rates, Biohazard 5 would have cost me about $100 at MSRP. The UK version would have cost me $41.

Unit-wise, Japan is still #2.

 

[gregor7777]

For shame, Italy. For shame.

 

[lochnesssnowman]

I don't think the UK's status as second place in the world in terms of revenue will last because of where it's currency is at the moment. Right now it's cheaper for me to buy games there than from the U.S. before shipping, while Japanese games have become considerably more pricey. One month ago, if I were to use a no forex-charge Capital One credit card at market rates, Biohazard 5 would have cost me about $100 at MSRP. The UK version would have cost me $41.

Unit-wise, Japan is still #2.

Doesn't being cheaper per unit but selling more overall in value imply that UK is selling more units as well?

 

[cvxfreak]

Doesn't being cheaper per unit but selling more overall in value imply that UK is selling more units as well?

I'm not sure of the specifics. The Pound isn't listed on the conversion chart, for instance. Plus, this is 2008's chart, while my post was alluding to an example that takes place last month. Games in the UK used to be far more expensive than games from Japan until recently.

The average spend difference is also notable, given that the market shares of the two are pretty close overall.

 

[dabra]

http://www.eraltd.org/_attachments/Resources/yearbook.pdf

UK

 

[Kenka]

What a transition. I see why Sony was so over-confident when Nintendo began its amazing raise. They were simply not anticipating such a rapid change.

 

[szaromir]

Wow, Gamecube software sales were decimal even when compared to Xbox, not mentioning PS2. Amazing turnaround for Nintendo.
And PSP peaking in its second should really make Sony thinking.

 

[Captain Smoker]

Here are numbers for Ireland (ChartTrack), thx to BKK2 @ VGChartZz for this find:

Only total software value though:

Ireland: £ 141,600,000 = $ 205,025,472



Source





First post: click me

 

[Parl]

I don't think the UK's status as second place in the world in terms of revenue will last because of where it's currency is at the moment. Right now it's cheaper for me to buy games there than from the U.S. before shipping, while Japanese games have become considerably more pricey. One month ago, if I were to use a no forex-charge Capital One credit card at market rates, Biohazard 5 would have cost me about $100 at MSRP. The UK version would have cost me $41.

Unit-wise, Japan is still #2.

But the Pound being weak has slowed its relative growth to other countries. When (and if) the currency exchange rates get back to "normal", UK's share will rise even more. Despite the impressive numbers for UK, these are significantly lower than they would be had the Pound not nose dived in value over the last half a year. Sales in the UK are rising at an impressive rate, despite already having the highest per capita spending for any country in the world. The video games industry is doing fantastic worldwide anyway.

Like-wise, when and if the Yen's strength weakens, it's relative position will go down.

 

[Psychotext]

But the Pound being weak has slowed its relative growth to other currencies. When (and if) the currency exchange rates get back to "normal", UK's share will rise even more. Despite the impressive numbers ofr UK, these are significantly lower than they would be had the Pound not nose dived in value over the last half a year. Sales in the UK are rising at an impressive rate, despite already having the highest per capita spending for any country in the world. The video games industry is doing fantastic worldwide anyway.

Like-wise, when and if the Yen's strength weakens, it's relative position will go down.

I was thinking of a way to type what you just did... I thank you for helping me keep my brain inactive on a Saturday morning.

 

[bj00rn_]

19 dollars...? LOL. My home country's numbers (Norway) kind of hints at what I've suspected for a long time: Gaming isn't really that hot around here. And when it is, it's all about the piracy and PC gaming. Oh well, at least I'm trying my best to push the numbers up.

 

[Brakara]

19 dollars...? LOL. My home country's numbers (Norway) kind of hints at what I've suspected for a long time: Gaming isn't really that hot around here. And when it is, it's all about the piracy and PC gaming. Oh well, at least I'm trying my best to push the numbers up.

Prices here in Norway are stupid high though, which is why I guess people like me import a lot.

Also, wow at the pathetic standalone Blu-ray players sales above.

 

[milanbaros]

I don't think the UK's status as second place in the world in terms of revenue will last because of where it's currency is at the moment. Right now it's cheaper for me to buy games there than from the U.S. before shipping, while Japanese games have become considerably more pricey. One month ago, if I were to use a no forex-charge Capital One credit card at market rates, Biohazard 5 would have cost me about $100 at MSRP. The UK version would have cost me $41.

Unit-wise, Japan is still #2.

Haha, what? You even explain why you're wrong in your post.

You've got it backwards unless you believe the increased exports from UK gaming shops has countered the fall in the value of the pound relative to the yen.

The £-Yen exchange rate for these figures is 131. Today it is 140. For all of 2007 it was over 200.

If, for example, the Japanese spent 200bn yen in 2007 and the UK £1bn, they would be considered equal. In 2008, the same figures would show the Japanese market to be 53% larger than the UK.

You even say in your post that Japanese games are over twice the price of British games. In othere words, unit sales would have to be far higher in the UK to match Japanese revenue.

Japanese unit sales may have fallen due to fewer exports and UK unit sales may have risen due to higher exports to the EU but do you honestly think the effect is as great as it would need to be (53%+) to show the UK market as larger than Japan.

If anything, these figures hide how dramatic the shift has actually been. The UK market is skyrocketing and the Japanese is faltering but the exchange rate has made this hard to see.

 

[cvxfreak]

Those are good explanations regarding the UK's position in terms of revenue, especially since it's now clear that the figures in the OP already account for the exchange rate fluctuations. UK games have traditionally been overpriced by US Dollar standards, the Yen games not so. But the chart clearly takes that into consideration.

Is is official then that the UK had more game software sold than Japan in 2008?

Japan sold over 12.206 Million consoles and handhelds in 2008 to the UK's 9.20 Million, so the UK can't be #2 on the hardware front.

 

[Psychotext]

Those are good explanations regarding the UK's position in terms of revenue, especially since it's now clear that the figures in the OP already account for the exchange rate fluctuations.

As far as the numbers in the OP are concerned: 1 Pfund Sterling = 1.44792 US Dollar. Ignoring the fact that should be Pound Sterling... that's 28% lower it was a year before (1GBP = 1.98 USD). For comparison, in the OP 1 JPY = 0.1106 USD, that's 8% higher than it was a year before (1 JPY = 0.009).

So I'm not actually seeing how the OP is taking into account the exchange rate fluctuations. (I might just be stupid, you can try to explain it to me)

[Edit - Just looking at software numbers... it appears the UK sells more software than Japan (in 2008 anyway, in 2007 Japan sold more) even though Japan sells more hardware than the UK. In terms of total value that may be significant... what's also significant is that Japan massively favours handhelds over home consoles. Given that on the whole handhelds are cheaper this would also go some way to explaining the unit / value disparity]

 

[JJConrad]

I want to know how each of these tracking sources handle taxes. They're included towards price differently in different markets. Unless everything is consistance these comparisons are pointless.

 

[brain_stew]

PAL markets are rockin' it (especially us in the UK!) - makes you wonder why those of us in the PAL areas still get shafted on release dates, price, content, etc.

I mean, I know the standard reasons (translation time, licensing, etc), but in all fairness we all still get treated like we're on the bottom rung of the ladder (see the PAL version of Madworld, for a good example of what I mean).



Hopefully similar reports are being run by the software/hardware devs and we'll see a shift towards even more universal levels of service and content.

What!!

No 480p was almost a deal breaker but 50hz and borders!? Yeah, you can forget about me buying Mad World anytime soon soon. That's inexcusable.

 

[BlackGoku03]

So why has Japan fallen behind? I thought the handheld market was crazy enough over there to keep ahead of the UK. Have people been buying less in Japan or have people in the UK been buying more?

 

[cartoon_soldier]

w00t Japan falls to 3rd. Just like how they are at developing quality games.

 

[kswiston]

Canada has had outrageous market growths the last two years. Up nearly 40% from 2007 which itself was up over 55% from 2006. Basically the Videogame market doubled in two years (was under $1bn in 2006).

It will be interesting to see how Canada fares in 2009 now that our currency has taken a sizable hit vs the dollar.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

http://www.eraltd.org/_attachments/Resources/yearbook.pdf

UK

No "Madden"?

 

[milanbaros]

Those are good explanations regarding the UK's position in terms of revenue, especially since it's now clear that the figures in the OP already account for the exchange rate fluctuations. UK games have traditionally been overpriced by US Dollar standards, the Yen games not so. But the chart clearly takes that into consideration.

Is is official then that the UK had more game software sold than Japan in 2008?

Japan sold over 12.206 Million consoles and handhelds in 2008 to the UK's 9.20 Million, so the UK can't be #2 on the hardware front.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/32840/UK-games-market-worth-4bn-in-2008
http://www.mcvuk.com/features/403/JAPANESE-2008-MARKET-REPORT

The UK sold 82.8m units in 2008, up 26% from 2007 and Japan sold 66.1m, down from 75.9m in 2007.

Like I said. The change has been huge, hidden only by the exchange rate fluctuations.

 

[Kenka]

No "Madden"?

Is it a joke ?

 

[Urban Scholar]

Not really surprised at the USA numbers, then again when I think about about 4-5 days out of the week I'm spending money on something. Go America!

 

[cvxfreak]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/32840/UK-games-market-worth-4bn-in-2008
http://www.mcvuk.com/features/403/JAPANESE-2008-MARKET-REPORT

The UK sold 82.8m units in 2008, up 26% from 2007 and Japan sold 66.1m, down from 75.9m in 2007.

Like I said. The change has been huge, hidden only by the exchange rate fluctuations.

Your links tell a lot.

The UK market was worth 4.034 Billion Sterling in 2008 (not sure how 4.024 Billion equates to the figure in the OP... PC games separate?), but that includes accessories. Japan's figures are solely on hardware and software figures for consoles and handhelds, which would make that market seem smaller (also in terms of revenue) despite the huge difference in hardware sales. The only way for the UK to be worth more in 2008 would be for Japan to be at a calculating disadvantage. If we tossed in Japan's peripheral sales and PC games, where would we be at?

Just out of pure curiosity myself, I'd like to see figures for mobile phone games, considering that collectively that's a big market in Japan and perhaps the UK as well.

 

[Mkliner]

No "Madden"?

They're not big fans of handegg in europe.

 

[Flying_Phoenix]

What do you expect them to do? Compare a single EU country against the behemoth that is the US of A?

Well yeah because since we're comparing countries. :lol

Sorry but this reminds me of people who make threads like "Who makes the better games Japan or the West?" or "What's better PC Gaming or Console Gaming?".

They're not big fans of handegg in europe.

Yeah I realize that which is why I'm not as surprised as I made myself to be but man this just shows how much the markets outside of the US and Japan have grown. Wasn't the game at least on the top 10 in previous said years?

 

[Jokeropia]

No Madden has even sold 100k in the UK.

 

[Pachael]

By revenue NA ~45%, EU ~45%, Japan ~12%

So that tells me why Japanese devs/pubs are increasingly looking to sell to Western audiences - there's about 7 times the market out there!

That said, some should treat EU releases better ;p

Oh, as for Japan accessories/PC games etc, if we put both in that figure would probably bump it up to 15%. Which is 20% more revenue wise than before, but still small. Unless Wii Fit is considered to be an accessory, then maybe 15.5%. All said, it's not going to push the figure above 20%.