UK video game sales have seen a drastic drop in the first half of 2024, compared to last year, with a lack of major releases blamed for the results. While there’s still been great games this year, it’s clear the video games industry is going through some real problems at the moment, not just in terms of the constant layoffs but also a major downturn in sales. Console sales worldwide have dropped in recent months , when compared to figures from the same period last year, while Sony has projected a decline in PlayStation 5 sales for the rest of 2024 due to a lack of ‘existing major franchise titles’.
New figures specific to the UK have summarised this downturn over the first half of 2024, with video game sales having fallen almost 30% within that timeframe. According to figures released by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), video game software sales dropped 29.4% year-on-year to £348.
6 million in the first half of 2024. Physical game sales took an even bigger drop of 40% to £111.7 million, while digital downloads fell 23% to £236.
9 million. ‘It was a tough first half for the games business with a lack of heavy-hitting releases, but we are optimistic for a strong second half, the traditional time for blockbuster releases,’ ERA CEO Kim Bayley told GamesIndustry.biz .
Despite the drop, video games still made more revenue than music and video sales. Music revenue, which counts vinyl, CD, and download sales, but excludes streaming, rose by 7.9% year-on-yea.