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2009 UK Video Game Stats
2009 UK Video Game Stats
UK Market Statistics
Music the surprise performer as video and games both falter
By Steve Redmond
The sudden and dramatic shrinkage of the UK’s entertainment games industry 2009 felt like the morning after a particularly
retailing estate at the beginning of 2009 meant all bets were off good night before. The year-on-year figures are awash with
as far as how the year would turn out. The demise of Woolworths minus signs. If 2008 was a breakthrough year for mass-market
and Zavvi in short order surely meant a huge loss of business for so-called casual gaming, 2009 marked a return to gaming’s
the video, games and music markets was on the cards. Particularly core market albeit with numbers which were still in most cases
given that the UK was in the midst of recession. ahead of 2007.
And yet 12 months later, viewing the market statistics for 2009, the For video 2009 was not a good year. Volume and value declines
abiding impression is of a market which has done remarkably well combined in a perfect storm which not even the growing
considering the circumstances. promotion given to Blu-ray was able to dispel.
Do not forget that 2008 had been a banner year for entertainment The surprise performer of 2009 was music. Yes, the recorded
retailing. Sales value hit £5.768bn driven by a once-in-a-decade music industry is 10 years off its peak. Yes, the UK recorded
boom in games sales. Compared with that, 2009 could not help music market has declined 30% in value over the past five years.
but be down, so the final result of a 4.9% decline in volume to And no, digital gives no sign yet that it can ever grow enough to
472.9m units is actually rather creditable. What is more concerning replace that lost value. But in 2009, the value of recorded music
is the 8.5% decline in market value to £5.279bn, a result of very sales dropped just 0.8%. Could it be that music’s decline is finally
strong price deflation which in particular affected video. After a flattening out? That’s a question which will be answered over
quite extraordinary 2008, it was not surprising that for many in the the next 12 months.
UK Entertainment Retailing Market £ millions 2007 2008 2009 % change 2009 versus 2008
ERA Entertainment Monitor 2007 2008 2009 % change 2009 versus 2008
Market volumes millions of units
Video (excludes music video) 244.3 253.5 238.5 -5.9
Music (includes music video) 158.7 155.7 154.8 -0.6
Games software (includes PC home software) 76.0 88.0 79.6 -9.5
Total value 479.0 497.2 472.9 -4.5
Source: Recorded Music - Official Charts Company (OCC). Video – OCC/British Video Association.
18 Games – GfK Chart-Track/ELSPA
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UK statistics
Entertainment may well have been a Neighbourhood leisre 28.1 26.6 -5.3
victim in part of the sharp slowdown in
Sightseeing 1.3 1.3 0.0
entertainment hardware sales which
declined by 12.3%. Inevitably, since Holidays in UK 10.5 10.1 -3.8
these are all value figures, it is not Holidays overseas 36.8 32.3 -12.2
necessarily clear whether they indicate
Holdays and tourism 53.5 48.6 -9.2
any fundamental changes in the way UK
AWAY FROM HOME 168.3 160.8 -4.5
consumers are spending their time for
at least some of the movements will be
ALL LEISURE 223.8 213.2 -4.7
accounted for by price inflation
and deflation. SOURCE: Sheffield Hallam University
19
UK statistics
ENTERTAINMENT RETAILING
20
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UK statistics
SECTOR MARKET SHARES
Marketshare figures from TNS Video market share by retail sector
Worldpanel Entertainment show
Volume Value
continuing gains for internet retailers
and supermarkets across all three 2008 2009 2008 2009
categories. Total Music/Video Specialist 20.9 19.9 24.6 22.7
Computer Specialist 0.5 0.9 0.5 0.8
It became apparent in the run-up Generalist 11.0 2.4 9.9 2.5
to Christmas 2009 that internet
Grocers 34.8 41.8 30.2 35.7
retailers and grocers had been the
biggest beneficiaries of the demise Mail Order 1.3 1.1 2.2 1.8
of Woolworths. Internet retailing now Internet 27.0 29.7 29.5 33.8
accounts for around 30% of video, Other 4.4 4.1 3.1 2.6
games and music sales. In the case of
Total Market 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
video, supermarkets now account for
over 40% of the volume in the market.
Games market share by retail sector
What is noticeable in some cases is Volume Value
the disparity between the volume and 2008 2009 2008 2009
value shares of different retail sectors. Total Music/Video Specialist 7.2 6.5 8.2 7.6
Computer Specialist 36.1 34.5 35.0 33.9
In video for instance grocers have
a bigger volume than value share, Generalist 17.8 10.7 18.8 11.2
indicating their over-representation Grocers 9.4 16.3 10.1 17.7
in price-sensitive chart product. By Mail Order 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.9
contrast internet retailers in video
Internet 26.4 28.8 24.6 26.1
have a higher value than volume share
Other 2.0 1.9 1.7 1.6
reflecting their strength in less price-
sensitive deep catalogue product. Total Market 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
UK statistics
VIDEO SALES
Video retained its leadership position in the Video Retail Sales (units millions)
entertainment market in 2009, but took a 2007 2008 2009 % change
hit in terms both of volume – down 5.6% 2009 v 2008
- and more worryingly of value – down DVD 248.1 252.9 234.6 -7.3
10.1%. This came despite the value benefits Blu Ray 0.8 3.7 8.4 123.0
of growing sales of Blu-ray discs (average HD-DVD 0.3 0.8 0.1 -89.9
selling price £16.84) compared with DVD
UMD 0.4 0.4 0.4 -11.7
(average selling price £8.62).
VHS 0.1 0.0 0.1 114.5
249.7 257.9 243.5 -5.6
Blu-ray grew its share of the video market
from 1.4% in volume terms to 3.4%, but its
share in value terms reached 6.5%. Video Retail Sales (£ millions)
2007 2008 2009 % change
While some may be sceptical of the longer- 2009 v 2008
term prospects for Blu-ray as a mass market DVD 2,327.6 2,333.0 2,022.8 -13.3
product, the video industry has little choice Blu Ray 15.8 69.6 140.8 102.3
but to plough ahead: Blu-ray currently HD-DVD 5.7 5.8 0.5 -91.3
looks like the only viable alternative to UMD 3.5 2.7 2.1 -20.9
declining margins in the video business.
VHS 0.4 0.2 0.8 226.5
2,353.0 2,411.3 2,166.9 -10.1
One surprising result from the video
industry in 2009 was an unexpected SOURCE: Official Charts Company
upturn in sales of VHS cassettes up from
44,377 sales in 2008 to 95,201 in 2009,
Top 10 Video 2009
though this is unlikely to turn into a long-
term trend. TITLE CORP.GROUP SALES
1 Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince Warner Home Video 2,193,700
2009 did not have a blockbuster on the
2 Quantum of Solace 20th Century Fox 2,040,229
scale of 2008’s Mamma Mia, but two titles –
led by the year’s biggest seller Harry Potter 3 Twilight E1 Entertainment 1,815,543
& the Half Blood Prince – sold more than 4 Slumdog Millionaire 20th Century Fox 1,383,838
2m units and 12 sold more than 1m. 5 Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen Paramount 1,362,020
6 Michael Mcintyre - Hello Wembley Universal Pictures 1,286,863
There was a striking contrast between the
fortunes of new releases versus catalogue 7 Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa Paramount 1,223,805
titles on video. New release titles were 8 Angels & Demons Sony Pictures 1,153,425
down 11.9% in volume (13.4% in value) 9 High School Musical 3 - Senior Year Walt Disney Studios 1,084,911
while catalogue was down just 3.3% (8.1%
10 Ice Age 3 - Dawn of the Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox 1,074,651
in value). While some argued that the new
release schedule was weaker than usual, a SOURCE: Official Charts Company, British Video Association
more potent factor was likely the number
of multi-buy offers available on catalogue. 23
UK statistics
ERA has argued strongly for more coordination between suppliers and retailers in the promotion of the
Blu-ray format. The argument is compelling. The DVD format is now more than 10 years old and DVD prices
seem to be tracking an inexorable path downwards – to around £8.60 in 2009.
Blu-ray prices are also coming down from around £18.50 to £16.80 in 2009. However they are still around
twice the price of DVDs.
The higher technical quality of Blu-ray is not in doubt. The key challenge is to persuade customers that the
benefits of Blu-ray justify the premium.
Some progress has certainly been made over the past 12 months. Sales of over 100,000 units of a Blu-
ray title are now regularly achieved. But as demonstrated in the chart below the market still shows a
pronounced male skew.
24
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UK statistics
GAMES Overview Games & Leisure Software 2007 2008 2009 % change
(£ millions) 2009 v 2008
After an extraordinary 2008 in which games Console software 1,407 1,788 1,587 -11.2
seem destined to overtake even the video Console hardware 1,282 1,399 1,089 -22.2
market, the cyclical nature of the sector PC leisure and home 308 288 262 -9.0
caught up with it in 2009 and over £500m
Total 2,997 3,475 2,938 -15.5
in sales simply disappeared, most of it from
SOURCE: GfK Chart-Track
the console hardware business. Simply put,
having bought one or more consoles in 2008,
consumers did not need to buy another. Games & Leisure Software Sales 2007 2008 2009 % change
(units millions) 2009 v 2008
And since sales of new hardware inevitably Console Software
drive sales of software, then sales of software Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) 14.2 5.7 1.9 -66.7
suffered too. Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) 4.2 10.4 12.3 18.3
Sony PSP 5.6 4.1 2.9 -29.3
None of this should detract, however, from Nintendo DS 14.9 19.1 15.2 -20.4
the games industry’s achievement in taking Microsoft Xbox 360 9.8 14.9 16.9 13.4
the business truly mainstream. And there
Nintendo Wii 7.9 20.1 18.9 -6.0
could be no greater example of that than
Total Console Software 58.2 74.3 68.1 -8.3
the success of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
2 which in early November 2009 generated a PC Software
massive £67.4m of sales in its very first week – PC CD Rom - Games 12.2 8.5 6.4 -24.7
more than the value of the combined music PC CD Rom - Home office/Educ/ 5.4 5.0 5.0 0
and video markets that week. Numbers on Child/Ref/Utility
this scale were big enough for it to eclipse Total PC Software 17.7 13.5 11.4 -15.6
even FIFA 10, the latest edition of the
traditionally market-leading franchise. Overall Total Software Units 76.0 88.0 79.6 -9.5
SOURCE: GfK Chart-Track
A significant casualty of the changing face
of the games market and the highly evolved
technology of games consoles is the sharp
decline in sales of games for the PC. In 2009
sales of PC games declined nearly 25% in
volume to 6.4 million – little more half the
level seen as recently as 2007.
25
UK statistics
GAMES Games & Leisure Software Sales 2007 2008 2009 % difference
(value £millions) 2009 v 2008
It was a particularly tough year in the Console Software
handhelds market with sharp declines in Sony Playstation 2 (PS2) 263 92 26 -71.7
software sales both for the Sony PSP (down Sony Playstation 3 (PS3) 156 334 354 6.0
29.3% in unit sales) and the Nintendo DS
Sony PSP 111 70 46 -34.3
(down 20.4%), but software for the bigger
Nintendo DS 314 366 276 -24.6
static consoles did better – no doubt helped
Microsoft Xbox 360 320 443 476 7.4
by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – with
Nintendo Wii 227 481 409 -15.0
Xbox 360 software unit sales up 13.4% and
Total Console Software 1,407 1,788 1,587 -11.2
those for Sony’s PS3 up 18.3%
PC Software
After a sharp 6% decline in the number
PC CD Rom - Games 145 117 93 -20.5
of new titles released in 2008 compared
PC CD Rom - Home office/Educ/Child/ 164 171 169 -1.2
with 2007, in 2009 the release schedule
Ref/Utility
registered a small increase. Far more
Total PC Software 308 288 262 -9.0
important in the games market, however, is
the quality of releases - and the platform’s
Total Other Software 4 6 5 -16.7
life cycle.
Overall Total Software Value 1,719 2,082 1,854 -11.0
Value (£ millions)
Handheld 353 365 320 -12.3
Static 929 1034 769 -25.6
Total 1282 1399 1089 -22.2
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 SOURCE: GfK Chart-Track/ELSPA
26
SOURCE: GfK Chart-Track/ELSPA
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UK statistics
The battle of the consoles: software sales by platform (million units) GAMES
2007 2008 2009 % change
Nintendo retained its crown as marketing-
Sony Playstation 1/2/3 18.4 16.1 14.2 -11.8 leading manufacturer in 2009 with
Microsoft Xbox/360 10.4 14.9 16.9 13.4 software for its platforms again outselling
Nintendo Gamecube/Wii 8.0 20.1 18.9 -6.0 those for Sony and Microsoft platforms
Total 36.8 51.1 50.0 -2.2 combined. Good news for Microsoft,
however: it was the only one of the three
The battle of the handhelds: software sales by platform (million units) leading brands to see an increase in
2007 2008 2009 % change software sales over 2008. With Nintendo’s
current platforms having peaked and with
Nintendo GBA/DS 15.8 19.1 15.2 -20.4
Sony’s PS3 likely close to its peak, 2010
Sony PSP GBA/DS 5.6 4.1 2.9 -29.3
could well be a challenging year for the
Total 21.4 23.2 18.1 -22.0
games market.
UK statistics
The most likely explanation is that it is the in- Source: Futuresource Consulting
herent characteristics of downloading – range,
24-7 hour opening, convenience and the ability
UK boasts nearly 20m MP3 players
to cherrypick albums and thus save money are
the most important elements. 2007 2008 2009
UK statistics
The Entertainment Chart is ERA’s project
The Entertainment Chart 2009
to map the success of individual titles sold
Overall Sector Position in Title Artist Company 2009 sales
through entertainment retailers. It combines position sector chart total
sales data from the Official Charts Company on 1 Game 1 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Activision Blizzard 2,926,637
video and music sales and from GfK Chart-Track 2 Video 1 Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince Warner Home Video 2,193,700
on sales of computer games. In each case the 3 Game 2 FIFA 10 Electronic Arts 2,155,697
data is grossed up to reflect sales right across 4 Video 2 Quantum of Solace 20th Century Fox 2,040,229
the market, rather than the more commonly 5 Video 3 Twilight E1 Entertainment 1,815,543
used “panel” sale. 6 Album 1 I Dreamed a Dream Susan Boyle Sony Music 1,714,369
7 Game 3 Wii Sports Resort Nintendo 1,488,797
The Top 40 chart on this page based on unit 8 Album 2 The Fame Lady Gaga Universal Music 1,458,289
sales is extracted from a fuller Entertainment 9 Video 4 Slumdog Millionaire 20th Century Fox 1,383,838
Chart report which will be published separately. 10 Video 5 Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen Paramount 1,362,020
11 Video 6 Michael McIntyre - Hello Wembley Universal Pictures 1,286,863
The Top 40 titles in 2009 accounted for sales of 12 Album 3 Crazy Love Michael Buble Warner Music 1,257,292
47.5m units – or just over 10% of the total UK 13 Game 4 Wii Fit Nintendo 1,246,461
entertainment market. 14 Video 7 Madagascar - Escape 2 Africa Paramount 1,223,805
15 Video 8 Angels & Demons Sony Pictures 1,153,425
The best-seller of the year in 2009 was a game 16 Album 4 The End Black Eyed Peas Universal Music 1,144,722
– Activision Blizzard’s phenomenal success, Call 17 Album 5 Only By The Night Kings of Leon Sony Music 1,132,483
of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which with sales of 18 Video 9 High School Musical 3 - Senior Year Walt Disney 1,084,911
2.93m outsold the second-placed Harry Potter 19 Video 10 Ice Age 3 - Dawn of The Dinosaurs 20th Century Fox 1,074,651
& The Half Blood Price by a third. 20 Album 6 Now That's What I Call Music 74 Various Artists EMI/Universal 1,053,574
21 Video 11 Star Trek 11 Paramount 1,041,389
Harry Potter may have been the biggest-selling 22 Video 12 The Dark Knight Warner Home Video 1,026,679
video of 2009, but it fell far short of 2008’s 23 Album 7 JLS JLS Sony Music 1,018,282
winner, Mamma Mia – The Movie which not 24 Video 13 Merry Madagascar Paramount 985,494
only sold over 5m units in 2008, but sold 25 Game 5 Wii Fit Plus Nintendo 968,282
another 882,000 in 2009. 26 Game 6 Assassin's Creed II Ubisoft 920,910
27 Game 7 Mario Kart Wii Nintendo 917,863
While games took the honours in 2009 with 28 Video 14 Mamma Mia - The Movie Universal Pictures 882,503
two of the top three best-selling titles, video 29 Album 8 I am Sasha Fierce Beyonce Sony Music 863,055
again dominated overall with 18 of the Top 40 30 Album 9 Sunny Side Up Paolo Nutini Warner Music 850,982
titles, ahead of music on 12 and games on 10. 31 Video 15 Taken 20th Century Fox 846,496
32 Video 16 Marley & Me 20th Century Fox 841,599
Mario & Sonic at Olympic Winter
The top three music titles were all solo artists 33 Game 8 Sega 825,027
Games
and represent a wide variety of artists from 34 Album 10 It's Not Me It's You Lily Allen EMI Music 818,370
reality show star Susan Boyle to electro- 35 Album 11 Now That's What I Call Music 73 Various Artists EMI/Universal 792,421
pop fashion icon Lady Gaga and Canadian 36 Album 12 Reality Killed the Video Star Robbie Williams EMI Music 790,487
standards singer Michael Buble. 37 Game 9 Call of Duty: World at War Activision Blizzard 769,726
38 Video 17 Hancock Sony Pictures 740,833
The Entertainment Chart displays the UK 39 Video 18 The Hangover Warner Home Video 725,176
public’s tastes in entertainment in all of its 40 Game 10 FIFA 09 Electronic Arts 713,314
baffling variety. This is what the mainstream Source: ERA analysis of OCC and GfKChart-Track Data.
looked like in 2009.
TOTAL 47,536,193 31
Sales figures grossed up to whole market estimate
Ireland statistics
Irish Market Statistics
Entertainment Market
Irish Entertainment Market - units (m) A slight 3.6% decline in volume was
magnified by price deflation into a near-
2007 2008 2009 % change
20% decline in the value of the Irish
entertainment market in 2009. Most
affected was video, with a 1% increase in
Physical singles 0.87 0.55 0.29 -47.3
volume translating into a 20.7% decrease
Digital tracks 3.74 4.83 5.64 16.8 in value.
Total singles 4.61 5.38 5.93 10.2
Buoyant sales of digital tracks and digital
Physical albums 9.31 8.09 6.93 -14.3 albums – although at growth rates well
Digital albums 0.32 0.51 0.66 29.4 below those seen in the UK – were unable
to prevent a further decline in the value of
Total albums 9.63 8.6 7.59 -11.7 the music market.
Video (DVD/UMD/VHS/BR/HD) 12.67 13.65 13.79 1.0 Video now accounts for 42% of the Irish
entertainment market by value, with
Entertainment Software 3.68 4.17 4.02 -3.6 games on 31% and music on 26%.
Total entertainment units* 26.4 27.0 26.0 -3.6 Altogether the Irish entertainment market
Source: Gfk Chart-Track. * Volume based on 10 singles = one album = lost €84m in value compared with the
one dvd = one game previous year.
Ireland statistics