James Delahunty
13 Jul 2010 7:19
According to data from Chart-Track, ELSPA and ISFE, sales of video game hardware in the United Kingdom were down 32 percvent to £256 million in the first half of 2010. The total hardware sales for the same period of 2009 added up to £378 million. Additionally, video game software sales fell 10 percent from last year's £592 million to £533 million, according to the data.
Total sales generated in the UK from the first 26 weeks of the year hit £963 million, down 16 percent from £1.143 billion last year. "UK consumers are still facing economic uncertainty and everyone is looking to how they can make savings, which has naturally impacted on the entertainment industry as a whole," commented Michael Rawlinson, director general of ELSPA.
It is worth noting that the figures do not include sales made for console or PC games by way of digital distribution services. "UK consumers are getting their gaming entertainment now in a variety ways," said Rawlinson.
"Consumers are increasingly downloading videogames from websites, and are also increasingly playing games not only on consoles, but also on their mobiles or through social networking sites, such as Facebook. This is proof that interactive entertainment is expanding way beyond its traditional boundaries."