They say the UK is f**ked for money, Industry data say’s no.

Reece Heywood | Jan 7, 2009 13:09 EST | Comment

Sales of games hit an all time high in 2008, according to ELSPA which today revealed annual sales figures from GFK Chart-Track. Total sales of all videogame software and hardware amounted to £4.034 billion.

There was a huge increase in games sales in 2008, with growth of 23 percent on figures for 2007. The market has now more than doubled over the last five years. The increasing popularity of games took total sales to £1.905 billion, compared to £1.552 billion in 2007. Hardware sales have been equally spectacular.

Nintendo
Nintendo formats led the way, with software sales of nearly 40 million units in the UK. Wii games were up 153%, with 20.1 million units sold last year compared to 7.9 million units in 2007. Revenue from Wii software sales also enjoyed a dramatic increase of 112% to £481 million, compared to £227 million in 2007.

The DS came through as the star hand-held performer, notching up a record-breaking 19.1 million software sales in the country, compared to 14.9 million in 2007. The leap represents an increase of 28% year on year. Revenue from DS games sales increased by 17% - from £314 million in 2007 to £366 in 2008.

Playstation 3
The PS3 notched up its first full year of game sales in 2008. Sales rose 145%, with 10.4 million units sold – more than double the 4.2 million games sold in 2007. The PS3 saw a 115% rise in revenue and software sales reached £334 million in 2008 compared to £156 million in 2007.

Xbox 360
Microsoft’s red ringer also continued to see growth in sales with a rise of 51% of games sold – a total 14.9 million units sold in the UK last year, compared to 9.8 million in 2007. Revenue was also up by 38%, with £443 million in 2008 compared to £320 million in 2007.

The total revenue for the UK’s console hardware sales in 2008 was £1.422 billion - an increase of 14% compared to £1.252 billion in 2007. The total value of console gaming peripherals increased by 82%, with total sales reaching £549 million compared to £301 million in 2007.

Michael Rawlinson, Managing Director of ELSPA, said: “It is also encouraging to see that the popularity of games continues to grow year on year. More than ever, videogaming is increasingly bringing families together with the introduction of so many outstanding family-based console titles. These have really opened up the market to those who may never have even considered playing a videogame before.”

Total games software sales reached an all-time high in 2008 with 82.8 million units sold all-told in the UK. The total gross generated from the sale of all games including hardware and accessories rose 23% to £4.034 billion.