Legal Niches

ELSPA: 2009 a Good Year for Game Industry Sales

By pete_gallagher

Based on Gfk Chart-Track sales data, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishing Association (ELSPA) has proclaimed 2009 as the second best year ever for UK videogame sales.

Total 2009 sales, lumping in software, accessories and hardware together, totaled 114.2 million units or £3.311 billion (approximately $5.3 billion U.S.). Broken out, software sales were £1.621 billion (approximately $2.6 million U.S.), while console hardware totaled £1.06 billion (approximately $1.7 billion U.S.). The latter figure decreased in year-over-year results due to lower average prices.

Wii games sold the most units in the UK last year, with a figure of 18.0 million, with PlayStation 3 software sales totaling 11.9 million units. The Xbox 360 was number one for 2009 in terms of revenue, gaining four percent over 2008 to total £459 million (approximately $734.0 million U.S.). No unit figure for 360 software titles sold was provided.

6.7 million hardware units were bought in the UK last year, with the Wii selling the most.

The accessory market contributed 2009 sales of £630 million (approximately $1.0 billion U.S.).

ELSPA Director General Mike Rawlinson commented, '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. Consumers are shopping smarter and gaming is becoming more widespread across all demographics.'

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on January 06, 2010 (boomark / email).