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[Bruno MB]

UK physical games sales dropped 13.4% in 2016

PS4 and 3DS game sales rise, every other platform falls

The UK games market in 2016 failed to recover as the year came to a close.

According to the latest GfK figures, the number of boxed games sold in 2016 in the UK was down by 13.4% in units and 13.8% in value. 23.7m games were sold in the year, generating £776m.

The disappointing results was down to plummeting 360 and PS3 software sales, plus the big games of 2016 failing to match their 2015 counterparts.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare was the top selling game of December and is the second best-selling game of 2016. It has also recovered a little since its disappointing launch. However, it remains 31.5% down compared with the previous year's Call of Duty: Black Ops III.

Bethesda launched Fallout 4 in November 2015, which went on to sell over 1m units. Last November it released Dishonored 2, which failed to make a major dent on the charts.

Ubisoft's 2015 Christmas hit was Assassin's Creed Syndicate, which sold almost half a million units during that year. 2016's big release, Watch Dogs 2, is still a little off from that target (although Syndicate launched four weeks earlier in its year).

Sticking with Ubisoft, its December title Steep had a slower start to life than 2015's Rainbow Six: Siege. Meanwhile, Microsoft's big Q4 game of last year, Gears of War 4, was no match for 2015's Halo 5.

Square Enix enjoyed decent sales for Final Fantasy XV last year, but it doesn't compare well when put against its big Christmas game of 2015 - Just Cause 3 (although that game had an extra week on sale).

So overall, the triple-A games of Christmas 2016 performed poorly in comparison to the major launches the year before. There are some exceptions, of course. FIFA 17 is matching the sales of FIFA 16, while Battlefield 1 has shifted over 1m units so far in the UK (although last year's Star Wars Battlefront managed a similar feat in a shorter space of time).

Outside of the big releases, the other major reason for the drop in software sales was down to a collapse in 360 and PS3 boxed games. Over 3m Xbox 360 boxed games and almost 2m PS3 titles were sold in 2015, but those numbers have plummeted by more than half for both platforms in 2016.

PS4 and Xbox One software sales were far more robust, but didn't grow significantly. PS4 and 3DS were the only two consoles that sold more games in 2016 than 2015.

Full breakdown on the top selling games and hardware is expected later in the week. The final weekly GfK chart of 2016 saw Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare notching up its fourth consecutive No.1, with FIFA 17 and Battlefield 1 keeping pace at No.2 and No.3 respectively.

Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...ames-market-suffers-13-4-percent-drop-in-2016

[B]UK physical software sales[/B]

2016 - 23,700,000 units / £776m
2015 - 28,000,000 units / £928m
2014 - 30,200,000 units / £948m
2013 - 34,500,000 units / £1,015m
2012 - 39,600,000 units / £1,046m
2011 - 55,400,000 units / £1,420m
2010 - 63,000,000 units / £1,530m
2009 - 74,600,000 units / £1,685m
2008 - 83,000,000 units / £1,911m
2007 - 70,600,000 units / £1,555m
2006 - 65,100,000 units / £1,360m
2005 - 57,500,000 units / £1,219m
2004 - 57,600,000 units / £1,247m
2003 - 53,700,000 units / £1,150m
2002 - 46,100,000 units / £1,074m
2001 - 45,000,000 units / £913m
2000 - 37,300,000 units / £732m

 

[Kill3r7]

Not as bad as one would think considering the many underperforming games this year.

 

[thomasmahler]

How is this surprising? More and more people only download games now instead of going into retail stores.

 

[Android18a]

That's fair. I only bought 3 new physical games all year.

 

[Rektash]

Pretty pointless numbers without digital sales. I mean the only thing you can infer from this is that people are playing less physical games. Says nothing about how healthy the market is overall.

 

[NZerker12]

That percentage will certainly rise after Brexit, if publishers decide to increase game prices due to the weak pound.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Wait so Just cause is doing better than FFXV?

 

[tolkir]

How is this surprising? More and more people only download games now instead of going into retail stores.

Probably because PS4 and 3DS rise. Only xbox one and wii u users buy digitally then.

 

[viHuGi]

Physical is going to die sooner than people think, just look at January EU PSN Sales and tell me why would someone buy physical and pay more when they can download for half of the price?

 

[Theonik]

How is this surprising? More and more people only download games now instead of going into retail stores.

3DS and PS4 sales both rose, it just seems that other systems are dying but nothing's picking up the slack.

Moreover I wonder how much of this can be attributed to lower consumer confidence.

Physical is going to die sooner than people think, just look at January EU PSN Sales and tell me why would someone buy physical and pay more when they can download for half of the price?

Because despite the sale retail in the UK is still much cheaper.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Sheesh. 2008 was a monster year.

 

[nubbe]

2008, it was the best and it was the worst of times

 

[comshoplesce]

I don't get it.

RETAIL cost less and resell value....and UK prices are best in Europe.

 

[BGBW]

That's because we now only buy British games for British gamers*.


*and FIFA.

 

[Maledict]

The drop-off since 2008 is staggering. Even taking into account inflation, physical game sales in the UK have more than halved in just 8 years. That can't be explained by the ris of digital alone.

 

[Theonik]

The drop-off since 2008 is staggering. Even taking into account inflation, physical game sales in the UK have more than halved in just 8 years. That can't be explained by the ris of digital alone.

I wager we are seeing an economic and cultural change if anything.
e: Also there hasn't been a dominant system since the PS2. PS4 is close.

 

[Rektash]

The drop-off since 2008 is staggering. Even taking into account inflation, physical game sales in the UK have more than halved in just 8 years. That can't be explained by the ris of digital alone.

We have literally no way of knowing this without actual digital sales numbers.

 

[Bruno MB]

To put this into perspective, 23.7 million software sales across all platforms are less units than what the by then 5 year old PlayStation 2 managed to sell in 2005.

PlayStation 2 Software Sales Units

2000 - 400,000
2001 - 7,300,000
2002 - 16,100,000
2003 - 21,520,000
2004 - 26,960,000
2005 - 26,500,000
2006 - 22,100,000
2007 - 14,200,000
2008 - 5,700,000
2009 - 1,900,000
2010 - 300,000

 

[Maledict]

We have literally no way of knowing this without actual digital sales numbers.

We know that digital doesn't make up 50% of the games market. That's been stated numerous times by various reps from different parts of the industry. Even taking into account the fact that the UK is generally a world leader when it comes to buying goods online we aren't at that level yet.

 

[patapuf]

We have literally no way of knowing this without actual digital sales numbers.

Sure, but considering numbers decreased by more than half of 2008 and the digital share of games is on average 20-30%, i'd say chances are good that there are additional factors that lead to the decline.

 

[Huw_Dawson]

To put this into perspective, 23.7 million software sales across all platforms are less units than what the by then 5 year old PlayStation 2 managed to sell in 2005.

Yeah, this is a severe issue.

I was expecting Game to issue a profit warning due to this, but it hasn't happened yet - maybe they're actually out of their rut?

3DS software sale growth is an interesting situation. There might be a case to argue that Nintendo are releasing the Switch too early, if the 3DS is still enjoying strong sales.

 

[bombshell]

How is this surprising? More and more people only download games now instead of going into retail stores.

Well, PS4 and 3DS platforms did rise in physical sales even with rising digital percentage. So other platforms must have had big decline in physical sales.

 

[Asmodai48]

To put this into perspective, 23.7 million software sales across all platforms are less units than what the by then 5 year old PlayStation 2 managed to sell in 2005.

PlayStation 2 Software Sales Units

2000 - 400,000
2001 - 7,300,000
2002 - 16,100,000
2003 - 21,520,000
2004 - 26,960,000
2005 - 26,500,000
2006 - 22,100,000
2007 - 14,200,000
2008 - 5,700,000
2009 - 1,900,000
2010 - 300,000

Well yea PS2 was the lead console of the generation and you couldn't buy games online.

 

[OléGunner]

The rise in digital is probably offsetting the overall drop a little.
Good to see PS4 and 3DS improve yoy at least, would be expected of PS4 especially with its install base.

Wait so Just cause is doing better than FFXV?

Was a little surprised at that quote too yeah

 

[Xando]

Do we have any comparisons to other EU markets like Germany or France?

 

[Augemitbutter]

brexit happened. it was a year of bad taste, so this is no surprise either. gotta know about digital sales first.

 

[Hamster Plugin]

3DS software sale growth is an interesting situation. There might be a case to argue that Nintendo are releasing the Switch too early, if the 3DS is still enjoying strong sales.

I'm pretty sure that happened only because a main series Pokemon came out this year, and Pokemon Go made the franchise relevant again.

 

[piggychan]

GAME shut a lot of shops around the UK along with another chain that went down.

 

[Theonik]

Yeah, this is a severe issue.

I was expecting Game to issue a profit warning due to this, but it hasn't happened yet - maybe they're actually out of their rut?

3DS software sale growth is an interesting situation. There might be a case to argue that Nintendo are releasing the Switch too early, if the 3DS is still enjoying strong sales.

Nintendo is positioning the Switch as a WiiU2 not a 3DS successor. This will be reflected in marketing and pricing in all likelihood. The 3DS will remain for a time, but on the bigger picture the 3DS never really took off outside Japan, even though it sold OK and didn't straight undie like the Vita did. Nintendo's fortunes rest on how well the switch does and how they manoeuvrer next.

 

[Huw_Dawson]

I'm pretty sure that happened only because a main series Pokemon came out this year.

Yeah, that might well account for it.

It will be interesting to see what happens when Nintendo unifies their handheld and console platform. Nintendo handhelds print money. If the Switch is cheap enough, it really could set a fire under the industry and fly off the shelves.

Nintendo is positioning the Switch as a WiiU2 not a 3DS successor.

This is problematic. The 3DS is venerable at this point, so I think it would make more sense to market this as the successor/replacement to BOTH the Wii U and the 3DS.

The Switch seems far more like a portable device with home console functionality than vice versa.

 

[BeforeU]

Awesome digital ftw.

More digital copies = frequent digital sales from PSN and XBL.

 

[RulkezX]

Digital sales (on console) wont be as prevalent here in the UK as it is in the US. Digital games are still ridiculously expensive digitally on PSN and XBL even during sales where we se sale prices more expensive than non sale retail prices.

What would be interesting is what percentage of those sales have gravitated to PC since the 2006-2008 high.

 

[pswii60]

We really, really need digital numbers. Clearly this isn't good for retailers but it doesn't give a clear indication of the industry as a whole.

Whilst physical is clearly still the major share, digital is definitely on the increase. Many of my friends have bought the digital versions of games like FIFA and CoD because they like to jump in and out of those games online and don't want the hassle of swapping discs. And they're pretty casual.

Also, there are many, many low to mid tier digital-only games too that the big hitters are competing with these days in terms of videogame spending.

To put this into perspective, 23.7 million software sales across all platforms are less units than what the by then 5 year old PlayStation 2 managed to sell in 2005.

PlayStation 2 Software Sales Units

2000 - 400,000
2001 - 7,300,000
2002 - 16,100,000
2003 - 21,520,000
2004 - 26,960,000
2005 - 26,500,000
2006 - 22,100,000
2007 - 14,200,000
2008 - 5,700,000
2009 - 1,900,000
2010 - 300,000

PS2 had no digital sales whatsoever, everything was physical. There was a digital-adjusted chart release a couple of years back which showed what a huge difference digital would make to the UK chart if it were combined with the physical chart - and Ori was in the top 10 (pre-retail release). Digital will be an even bigger slice of the pie now. We're not just talking about digital version of physical games, but digital-only titles.

I'm not saying the digital increase will make up the 13.4% fall, but we really don't know either way.

EDIT: And I haven't even mentioned the revenues from season passes, subscriptions and DLC.

 

[OléGunner]

Digital sales (on console) wont be as prevalent here in the UK as it is in the US. Digital games are still ridiculously expensive digitally on PSN and XBL even during sales where we se sale prices more expensive than non sale retail prices.

What would be interesting is what percentage of those sales have gravitated to PC since the 2006-2008 high.

Far Cry primal was 18 quid about 6 months after launch.

Titanfall 2 was 23 quid during this holidays PSN sales.
I think you're selling sales short (aha!) even for the digital U.K. Market place, there's great offers to be had.

Edit: checked primal again that sale was actually 4months after launch.

 

[Rektash]

We know that digital doesn't make up 50% of the games market. That's been stated numerous times by various reps from different parts of the industry. Even taking into account the fact that the UK is generally a world leader when it comes to buying goods online we aren't at that level yet.

First time I have heared about that digital % share of the market but yeah, that indicates that overall the market has contracted since 2008.

Still, as long as we don't have actual ditial sales numbers of 2016 the 13.4% number is pointless as we have no corrosponding digital sale number for the same year.

Can we speculate about this? Sure. Can we we infer that the overall (as in digital + physical) market has contract in the last year? No.

 

[Theonik]

This is problematic. The 3DS is venerable at this point, so I think it would make more sense to market this as the successor/replacement to BOTH the Wii U and the 3DS.

The Switch seems far more like a portable device with home console functionality than vice versa.

The issue is pricing. The 3DS was a huge failure in its launch price and wasn't before they brought it in line to where the DS succeeded that it started taking off though a lot of effort and possibly lost profit for Nintendo.
The Switch will probably be more expensive than 3DS was at launch and more in line with the WiiU.

It is a system that can *maybe* do both but Nintendo faces a great challenge there in terms of how they market it. For what it's worth I also think it's too big to be a good portable system, and the huge exposed vents and internal fan make it a poor outdoors proposition.

 

[hanspampel]

Probably because PS4 and 3DS rise. Only xbox one and wii u users buy digitally then.

Ps4 this year uncharted 4 and no man's sky
Last year nothing major

3ds is up basically everywhere over 2015.



Only xbox one has a significant different approach to digital with play anywhere and multiplayer and service focused exclusives. But the different is still not that! Big

 

[krang]

Sure, but considering numbers decreased by more than half of 2008 and the digital share of games is on average 20-30%, i'd say chances are good that there are additional factors that lead to the decline.

In 2008 PC gamers were probably still buying physical games as well, which is now more or less a wholesale shift to digital. Or do the 2008 stats not account for PC?

 

[patapuf]

We really, really need digital numbers. Clearly this isn't good for retailers but it doesn't give a clear indication of the industry as a whole.

Whilst physical is clearly still the major share, digital is definitely on the increase. Many of my friends have bought the digital versions of games like FIFA and CoD because they like to jump in and out of those games online and don't want the hassle of swapping discs. And they're pretty casual.

Also, there are many, many low to mid tier digital-only games too that the big hitters are competing with these days in terms of videogame spending.

A factor i have seen mentioned a few times, is that the "games as a service" model is starting to work and eat into sales. People just play their games longer, and spend money on DLC and microtransactions.

In 2008 PC gamers were probably still buying physical games as well. Or do the 2008 stats not account for PC?

They were, but i have no clue how important the PC retail market was in the UK. My impression was that steam was as successful as it was because the PC retail market was pretty much dead in some places in the world.

 

[Guymelef]

Only xbox one has a significant different approach to digital with play anywhere and multiplayer and service focused exclusives. But the different is still not that! Big

 

[Theonik]

A factor i have seen mentioned a few times, is that the "games as a service" model is starting to work and eat into sales. People just play their games longer, and spend money on DLC and microtransactions.

There is that, smartphone and PC f2p models probably also affect sales for some of these platforms.

I think a point to consider with XB1 and WiiU is that I can't think of any major releases for those systems for this year especially in the case of the later. That would mean a drop YOY in most cases.

 

[Lazaro]

I stopped buying retail PC games because nowadays most of them don't have manuals and the games installation aren't on disc.
EDIT: The retail prices haven't been as great as digital prices as well.

 

[ethomaz]

PS4 up YoY makes me wonder if it is the same in others places outside UK and Japan.

 

[hanspampel]

2000 Asp 19.4 pound
2016 asp 32.7 pound

 

[ramparter]

Awesome digital ftw.

More digital copies = frequent digital sales from PSN and XBL.

My hope is that more digital sales will maker stores more interested in selling digital codes and this could drive the digital prices down even more.

 

[mr_sockochris]

I haven't bought a disc since Forza Horizon 2. Having it on HDD is too convenient, I've bought most games as a decent price and the Xbox game share means I've bought more on Day1 than I would have on disc because I've taken it in turns with my game share friend.

A few years ago I was horrified by not having physical copies but now I feel the complete opposite.

 

[krang]

My hope is that more digital sales will maker stores more interested in selling digital codes and this could drive the digital prices down even more.

It would be about damned time.

 

[RulkezX]

We really, really need digital numbers. Clearly this isn't good for retailers but it doesn't give a clear indication of the industry as a whole.

Whilst physical is clearly still the major share, digital is definitely on the increase. Many of my friends have bought the digital versions of games like FIFA and CoD because they like to jump in and out of those games online and don't want the hassle of swapping discs. And they're pretty casual.

Also, there are many, many low to mid tier digital-only games too that the big hitters are competing with these days in terms of videogame spending.

This is a very valid point

Far Cry primal was 18 quid about 6 months after launch.

Titanfall 2 was 23 quid during this holidays PSN sales.
I think you're selling sales short (aha!) even for the digital U.K. Market place, there's great offers to be had.

Edit: checked primal again that sale was actually 4months after launch.

Titanfall 2 was a huge bomb available for 25 physically a couple of weeks after release. The game was heavily discounted everywhere , it's not a valid comparison.

Primal , another bomb , being cheap 4 months after launch proves nothing when during the period the majority of sales happen the game was 65 on PSN or 38 in stores.

Look , you do have a valid point , but the recent good prices on relatively new games ( like ROTR , Battlefield 1 or COD) on the console digital marketplaces are a very new thing , it's only this last few months they've went with really good prices on new games (instead of 6 month old poor selling game)

I'm sure next year that the digital share of the pie will be much higher if the current trend continues. They need to address the day 0 pricing though , it's still shit ( eg Nioh is £54.99)

In 2008 PC gamers were probably still buying physical games as well, which is now more or less a wholesale shift to digital. Or do the 2008 stats not account for PC?

2008 the majority of PC games were likely still boxed here. I've no doubt that the rise in PC gaming and digital distribution on PC has accounted for a not insignificant portion of those lost retail sales since that 2006-8 period.

 

[pswii60]

Code:

UK physical software sales

2016 - 23,700,000 units / £776m
2015 - 28,000,000 units / £928m
2014 - 30,200,000 units / £948m
2013 - 34,500,000 units / £1,015m
2012 - 39,600,000 units / £1,046m
2011 - 55,400,000 units / £1,420m
2010 - 63,000,000 units / £1,530m
2009 - 74,600,000 units / £1,685m
2008 - 83,000,000 units / £1,911m
2007 - 70,600,000 units / £1,555m
2006 - 65,100,000 units / £1,360m
2005 - 57,500,000 units / £1,219m
2004 - 57,600,000 units / £1,247m
2003 - 53,700,000 units / £1,150m
2002 - 46,100,000 units / £1,074m
2001 - 45,000,000 units / £913m
2000 - 37,300,000 units / £732m

This is scary reading, regardless of the digital age points I made earlier.

But in context, the 2007-9 peak was also Wii-peak and DS-peak, and smartphones and tablets have definitely eaten a massive chunk in to that audience.

 

[AnthonypUK]

2000 Asp 19.4 pound
2016 asp 32.7 pound

as a proportion of wages they're actually similar, people are just buying less volume physically.
Average weekly wage

2000 : £306
2016 : £507