Physical video game sales collapsed in the UK last year

Video game revenue in the UK dropped 4.4% to £4.6bn in 2024, it’s been revealed.

This was driven mainly by a collapse in physical game revenue in the region, with just £324.4 million generated by sales of boxed games in the UK last year. That’s a drop of nearly 35% over 2023.

This data is courtesy of the Entertainment Retailers Association, and based on data from Nielsen/GfK, India and GSD.

The digital market fared better, with £4.29bn generated via console, PC, mobile, and tablet game sales. However, this was still a 1% drop over the year before.

According to the data, PC download sales were down 5%, console download sales were down 15%, mobile and tablet gaming rose 2.6%, and subscription revenue increased 12%. This means the video game market will sit behind film and video in the UK for the second consecutive year.

The best-selling game in the UK was EA Sports FC 25, which shifted 2.9 million copies in 2024. ERA reveals that 80% of its sales were via digital stores.

“After the breakneck growth of recent years, it is no surprise that the games market has slowed down, but it remains a giant,” said ERA boss Kim Bayley. “Despite the attractions of digital business models to developers, we believe physical still has a role to play.”

The games market is expected to improve in 2025 with a series of big game releases, headlined by Grand Theft Auto VI and the successor to Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo has yet to officially reveal its Switch successor, but the company has confirmed plans to do so during its current fiscal year, which ends in March 2025.