UK games sales were down 3.3% to £4.2 billion in 2021 compared to the year before, trade body ERA revealed in its annual report.
However, sales were up 13.9% compared to 2019's pre-pandemic figures. In 2020, the sector had performed exceptionally well with a 17.8% growth year-on-year due to COVID-19 lockdowns throughout the year.
ERA noted that the shortage of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X due to the semiconductor crisis has likely contributed to the market declining slightly last year.
Physical sales particularly dropped year-on-year, with sales down 20.8% compared to 2020 (and 15.1% compared to 2019) to £511 million, while digital was only down 0.4% year-on-year and up 19.4% compared to 2019, reaching £3.7 billion.
FIFA 22 was the best selling game of the year in the UK, with 917,000 boxed copies sold and 1.3 million digital units, for a combined total of 2.2 million copies.
Additional calculations; 87.87% of all revenue was digital and FIFA went from 51.9% digital to 59% digital.
Link:https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-06-uk-games-market-down-3-3-percent-in-2021
However, sales were up 13.9% compared to 2019's pre-pandemic figures. In 2020, the sector had performed exceptionally well with a 17.8% growth year-on-year due to COVID-19 lockdowns throughout the year.
ERA noted that the shortage of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X due to the semiconductor crisis has likely contributed to the market declining slightly last year.
Physical sales particularly dropped year-on-year, with sales down 20.8% compared to 2020 (and 15.1% compared to 2019) to £511 million, while digital was only down 0.4% year-on-year and up 19.4% compared to 2019, reaching £3.7 billion.
FIFA 22 was the best selling game of the year in the UK, with 917,000 boxed copies sold and 1.3 million digital units, for a combined total of 2.2 million copies.
Additional calculations; 87.87% of all revenue was digital and FIFA went from 51.9% digital to 59% digital.
Link:https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-01-06-uk-games-market-down-3-3-percent-in-2021
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