While we wait for The NPD Group to release its official numbers for the U.S. video game industry in 2009, ELSPA today unveiled the newest data from GfK Chart-Track, showing that 2009 was the second strongest year on record for the U.K. Total industry sales came to £3.311 billion ($5.3 billion).
Software revenue amounted to £1.621 billion, driven by growth on both the Xbox 360 and PS3, while total revenue for console hardware sales amounted to £1.06 billion. ELSPA noted that this is a decrease on 2008 "mainly due to lowering average retail prices." (Note: ELSPA said that it compared the first 52 weeks of 2009 to the 52 weeks of 2008, since 2009 was a 53-week year; the last time that happened was in 2004.)
The Wii was the top console in the U.K. during 2009, selling the most software. Over 18 million units were sold for the platform, while Sony's PS3 saw a 14% software sales increase from 10.4 million units in 2008 to 11.9 million units in 2009. In terms of dollar sales, however, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 saw the biggest gains, as software revenue in 2009 grew four percent to £459 million, overtaking the Wii and becoming the top platform by software revenue. Overall, U.K. consumers bought a total of 74.6 million pieces of software during 2009, which ELSPA points out is equal to more than one per person in the U.K.
On the hardware side, consumers bought 6.7 million consoles, which is equal to about one console for every nine people in the U.K. While overall console hardware sales were down, Sony's PS3 did see a two percent increase of units sold compared to 2008. Nintendo's Wii, however, still remained the most sold console of 2009.
ELSPA seemed quite pleased with the U.K. industry's performance in the face of a tough economy. Mike Rawlinson, Director General of ELSPA, commented, “We cannot forget that 2009 saw the U.K. economy in the grip of one of the most severe recessions of recent times, which has naturally impacted on the entertainment industry. It is not surprising that the U.K. videogames industry has weathered the economic storm so well as games represent great value for money."
He continued, "The U.K. videogames market is maturing – we are not seeing such explosive growth as in 2008, a sure sign that the market is coming of age. Consumers are shopping smarter and gaming is becoming more widespread across all demographics – this is demonstrated by the fact that a videogame (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) topped the Amazon best-sellers chart for the first time in 2009. Thanks to continued innovation from games publishers and developers, opening up new types of games and gaming methods, more and more consumers are becoming gamers and the industry is reaching new audiences.”
