TIGA, the trade association representing the UK gamesindustry, said that HMV’s and Blockbuster’s decline and fall into
administration emphasised the shift by consumers from
purchasing physical products to buying digital content and underlined the
importance for game developers to self-publish digital content.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase
in the number of self-publishing developers with smartphone and social media
gaming proving especially popular. The video game software market at retail
fell 29 per cent in 2012, a huge drop. Yet research by the Entertainment
Retailers Association showed digital sales of games totaled £552million, a rise
of 7.7 per cent.
Apple's App Store surpassed the 40 billion download
mark and games regularly take up 70 per cent of the top 10. The three major
consoles – the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii U – also have digital
distribution platforms and, when PC and Mac gaming are included, it is clear
there is a great opportunity for developers to be creative and maximise their
revenue.
Jason Kingsley OBE, TIGA Chairman and CEO and Creative
Director at Rebellion, said:
“Blockbuster’s and
HMV's fall into administration is very sad, not least because of the probable job
losses but their decline and fall has been driven by the decisions of consumers
to embrace digital downloads. The DVD space is being eaten away by services
such as Netflix and Lovefilm, CDs have largely been made irrelevant by iTunes,
Steam has made the PC a buoyant gaming platform and mobile platforms have made
consumers more at ease with buying for non-tangible products.”
“The future of games
development will increasingly lie in direct marketing to consumers and this
will not only enable developers to communicate directly with their buyers but
it will also allow them to be more creative.”
Patrick O'Luanaigh, CEO,
nDreams Ltd, TIGA Board member said:
“As
someone who has spent a great deal of time and money in Blockbuster and HMV
stores, I really hope that the companies are able to come out of administration
in some form. Sadly for Blockbuster and HMV, there is no doubt that
entertainment retail is an increasingly tough sector with more and more gamers
spending their money on digital downloads with Apple, Steam, Google,
PSN and the like. Like the music industry, I really do feel that this
trend is unstoppable, and I hope that Blockbuster, HMV and other entertainment
retailers are able to adapt their businesses to fit into the changing
environment.”
Notes to editors:For the data on the sale of video games
at retail, see: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/uk-retailers-sell-2-2m-boxed-games-in-last-big-sales-week-before-christmas/0108706
About
TIGA:
TIGA is the trade association representing the UK’s
games industry. The majority of our members are either independent games
developers or in-house publisher owned developers. We also have games
publishers, outsourcing companies, technology
businesses and universities amongst our membership. Since 2010, TIGA has won 14 business awards and has been nominated a
finalist for 16 other awards.
TIGA's
vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games
business. We focus on three sets of activities: political representation,
generating media coverage and developing services that enhance the
competitiveness of our members. This means that TIGA members are
effectively represented in the corridors of power, their voice is heard in the
media and they receive benefits that make a material difference to their
businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial
opportunities.
For
further information, please contact Dr Richard Wilson, TIGA CEO on: 07875 939
643, or email: richard.wilson@tiga.org.