UK retail video game revenue collapsed in 2024 according to the latest report from Nielsen/GfK, Omdia, and GSD. According to the stats, the overall video game revenue produced in the UK during 2024 dropped by 4.4% to £4.6 billion. This number is an overall outlook at the industry, which includes boxed game sales, digital game sales, and hardware.
When it comes to retail video game sales themselves, the industry only managed to generate £324.4 million in 2024 – a 35% drop in boxed game sales compared to 2023.
While this physical sales slump was expected, digital game revenue also dropped by 1% over 2023. The digital market generated £4.29 billion in 2024. While this is only a 1% drop, it is still a decline.
The 1% drop is made up of a combination of declining sales across most platforms. PC download sales dipped by 5%, console sales dipped by 15%, while mobile and tablet sales increased by 2.6%, and subscription revenue increased by 12%.
The best-selling game in the UK during 2024 was EA Sports FC 25, that sold 2.9 million copies. 80% of these copies were digital versions of the game. Out of all the 2024 video game releases, the top 10 UK game sales chart included only four games released last year. The remaining games in the top 10 were older games.
- EA Sports FC 25
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6
- EA Sports FC 24
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder
- Minecraft
- Nintendo Switch Sports
- The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom
- Super Mario Party Jamboree
This means that titles such as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Star Wars Outlaws, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Black Myth Wukong, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Astro Bot, Helldivers 2, and Horizon LEGO Adventures all struggled to overtake older games, and remained in the top 20/30.
2025 is expected to improve compared to 2024. With a series of big game releases on the horizon like Grand Theft Auto VI and the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, the industry will no doubt show growth. However, the dip in physical sales still means that retailers are selling fewer copies of games, and these big video game releases are making less of an impact than before.
