The UK gaming industry had a tough 2024, with revenue falling 4.4% to £4.6 billion. The largest drop was recorded in the segment of physical copies of games.whose revenue fell almost 35% to just £324 million. This decline is confirmed by data from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), based on Nielsen/GfK analysis and other sources.
Digital game sales, which make up the majority of the market, were less stable but also showed a slight decline of 1%. The mobile gaming segment grew the most (+2.6%) and income from game subscriptions (+12%), and sales of digital copies of games on PC and consoles decreased by 5% and 15%, respectively. However, the digital market dominates with total revenue of £4.29 billion. The best-selling game of the year was EA Sports FC 25.however, ERA estimates that 80% of its copies are purchased digitally.
While the number of physical copies of games is declining worldwide, digital versions of games are increasing their market share year after year. On Xbox consoles, physical copies have practically disappeared (supposedly due to Game Pass), and on PC the situation has gone so far that even in boxed versions of games you can only find an activation key. In this case, the box becomes less interesting for the player.
Sales of physical copies are also falling on the PlayStation console, where players increasingly prefer digital purchases. The only console that can currently keep up with physical game sales is Nintendo Switch.
Source :Indian TV
