The UK games market is now more than double the size it was 10 years ago, according to new figures published by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).
Games have continued to be a dominant player in the entertainment sector. UK consumer spending on games reached £4.29bn in 2021 and the games market is twice as large in revenue terms as music.
Games have endured a slight reverse, down 3.3%, against 2020’s remarkable 17.8% increase. This is likely to be due to the worldwide semiconductor shortage which caused supply problems with the latest PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
However, the 2021 figures are still much higher than those recorded before the pandemic and the industry is worth 14% more than its value in 2019.
In addition, Mobile and Tablet games have increased revenues by 8.1% and are now more than three times the size of the traditional physical console software market. The strong growth in mobile gaming can only benefit the market long-term.
These figures provide confidence that the games industry will continue to prosper and grow.
| CONSUMER SPEND £ MILLIONS | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021 versus 2020 (% growth) | 2021 versus 2019 (% growth) |
| Mobile / Tablet games | £1,192.1 | £1,427.8 | £1,543.1 | 8.1 | 29.4 |
| Other Digital | £1,311.4 | £1,519.3 | £1,467.9 | -3.4 | 11.9 |
| Digital console games | £455.8 | £598.7 | £549.0 | -8.3 | 20.4 |
| Physical console software | £592.7 | £638.5 | £508.4 | -20.4 | -14.2 |
| Digital PC games | £202.8 | £243.5 | £214.9 | -11.7 | 6.0 |
| Physical PC software | £3.9 | £4.5 | £2.1 | -52.1 | -45.2 |
| Physical handheld software | £5.9 | £2.7 | £0.9 | -66.6 | -84.4 |
| Total | £3,764.6 | £4,434.9 | £4,286.5 | -3.3 | 13.9 |
Source: Physical – GfK Entertainment; Digital (including digital online, mobile and tablet gaming)- Provisional estimates from Omdia.