The Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) has revealed that video games have outsold music and home video in the UK for the 11th year in a row.
According to the data obtained by the firm, video games ate up a whopping 42.1% of total entertainment revenue for 2022, with sales totalled £4.664 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 2.3%. It was a close call though, as video revenue generated £4.432 billion thanks to a 14.4% increase over 2021.
Video game sales figures took into account not only physical software sales, but also digital console downloads, PC and mobile games, in addition to “a variety of other subscription and token-based playing mechanisms.” Video numbers include DVD, Blu-ray, 4K UHD and digital rentals and purchases, plus the likes of Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and Netflix subscriptions.
Music meanwhile came in third place with a total of £1.986 billion, taking into account sales of CDs and vinyl and subscription services such has Spotify.
Ben Drury, Chairman of ERA, commented:
Despite pandemic, political uncertainty and recession, entertainment has continued to soar. Growth of nearly 40% since 2019 is extraordinary. Few would have believed we would retain the huge bounce in revenues seen when the Covid lockdown kept people at home, but these numbers show that even amid recession, people are determined to maintain their spending on entertainment.
The report also notes that digital sale are continuing to dominate over physical goods, with physical and software sales and digital console sales split 40-60 in favour of digital purchases.
[Source – VGC]