UK games revenue down 18% to £3.311 billion in 2009

ELSPA just confirmed 2009 as the second largest year on record for games in the UK, with revenue coming in at £3.311 billion, down from £4.034 billion the previous year.

The figure respresents a drop of 17.9%, year-on-year.

Software revenue stood at £1.621 billion for the year, compared to £1.905 billion in 2008.

Total revenue for console hardware sales amounted to £1.06 billion, a decrease on 2008 largely due to price-cutting.

The total value of peripherals was £630 million in 2009, with total sales reaching 35.8 million units.

Overall, the total gross generated in the UK during the first 52 weeks of 2009 from the sale of all videogames, software, hardware and accessories, was £3.311 billion.

This equated to 114.2 million units sold all-told in the UK.

“The UK videogames market is maturing – we are not seeing such explosive growth as in 2008, a sure sign that the market is coming of age," said ELSPA director Mike Rawlinson.

"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.”