SJN Insights: Analysis of the UK Gaming Market in 2023
The UK gaming market stayed strong in 2023. Bad news - inflation made games more expensive.
The analysis is based on data from GSD and GfK. It includes actual sales figures shared by publishers and stores.
The number of copies sold in 2023 increased by 3% compared to 2022. That's 38.3 million games.
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Until May 2023, sales dynamics mirrored those of 2022. It was only from May onwards that the market surged, largely due to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Diablo IV.
When comparing sales of new games (games less than 3 months on the market), 2023 unexpectedly turned out to be 1% worse than 2022 (11.8 million copies). However, back-catalog sales (games older than 3 months) grew by 5% compared to 2022.
❗️The calculation methodology used by GSD and GfK is somewhat atypical. In my opinion, the back-catalog should include projects released before the reporting year.
User spending on games increased by 4% - reaching £1.27 billion. Digital sales saw an 8% growth (£785 million), while physical copy sales decreased by 2% (£487 million).
The number of digital version sales is increasing, but the rate of replacing boxed versions of games has slowed down.
The average price of new physical format games increased by 14% in 2023 (£57), compared to 2021 (£50). A similar percentage growth is seen in digital versions - from £59 in 2021 to £68 in 2023.
The average price of all disc format games increased from £33 in 2021 to £34 in 2023. The growth is more noticeable in digital format - from £24 to £29.
In 2023, games from the top 10 of the British chart sold 2% worse than the top 10 in 2022, considering only physical copies.
However, the situation is similar when considering digital versions.
❗️For some reason, British consumers were not very optimistic about new releases in 2023.