New Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) figures show that for the first time the UK games market has exceeded £4 billion in revenue.
In 2020, the games market increased by 14.5 per cent with a total revenue of over £4.2 billion. Additionally, 80 percent of entertainment spending went on digital services, rather than physical formats. The digital games market, which includes mobile, streamed games and downloads, grew by 16.3 per cent to £3.6 billion. The biggest selling title was FIFA 21, with over two million units sold.
Below there is a breakdown of UK consumer spending on entertainment in 2020 and a breakdown of the best-selling games of 2020.
| UK consumer spending on entertainment 2020 – preliminary figures (£m)[1] | ||||
| 2019 | 2020 | % change | ||
| Music
|
Physical | £318.1 | £271.6 | -14.6% |
| Downloads | £89.7 | £72.2 | -19.5% | |
| Streaming | £1,045.8 | £1,208.2 | 15.5% | |
| Total Music | £1,453.7 | £1,552.0 | 6.8% | |
| Video
|
Physical Retail | £477.2 | £355.7 | -25.5% |
| Physical Rental | £23.4 | £16.9 | -27.6% | |
| Digital | £2,110.0 | £2,906.4 | 37.7% | |
| Total Video | £2,610.6 | £3,279.1 | 25.6% | |
| Games
|
Physical | £572.3 | £598.5 | 4.6% |
| Digital | £3,115.4 | £3,622.2 | 16.3% | |
| Total Games | £3,687.7 | £4,220.7 | 14.5% | |
| Total Entertainment | Physical | £1,391.0 | £1,242.7 | -10.7% |
| Digital (inc streaming) | £6,360.9 | £7,809.0 | 22.8% | |
| Total Entertainment | £7,751.9 | £9,051.8 | 16.8% | |
| Best-selling Games 2020[2] | ||
| Chart Position | Title | Total Unit Sales |
| 1 | FIFA 21 | 2,182,694 |
| 2 | Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | 1,420,353 |
| 3 | Grand Theft Auto V | 1,127,222 |
| 4 | FIFA 20 | 903,810 |
| 5 | Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare | 897,350 |
| 6 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons* | 810,462 |
| 7 | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | 665,815 |
| 8 | The Last Of Us Part II | 539,247 |
| 9 | NBA 2K20 | 481,507 |
| 10 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege | 436,957 |
[1] ERA, Lockdown streaming drives entertainment sales to £9bn, 8 January 2021, link
[2] ERA, Lockdown streaming drives entertainment sales to £9bn, 8 January 2021, link