UK: Europe’s leading video game market

Author: Leonie Tait

Date published: 1 Aug 2004

Toys and games in the UK grew 5.6% last year, according to a new report from Euromonitor. The bulk of this growth is due to the upbeat market conditions in video games.

Sales of video games driving growth in toys and games

The popularity of video games is responsible for overall growth in the UK toys and games sector. Sales of video games are strong as a result of several factors. More and more, children are being exposed to technology at an early age, making them more likely to choose video games over traditional toys. But it’s not just children that are affecting positive sales in this market, young males have a keen interest in video games also enhancing sales in the sector.

Growth in the UK Video games market

UK is the third largest market for video games in the World

At more than £2 billion in 2003, the market for video games in the UK is the largest in Europe and the third largest in the world, after USA and Japan. As well as buying more video games than any other country in Europe, the creative excellence of the UK’s software houses also means that the UK makes more video games than any other country in Europe.

What is in store for the future of video games?

As the role that technology plays in our lives becomes more and more important, video games will continue to move away from being hobbyist and will become an increasingly mainstream, ‘socially acceptable’ form of leisure. Technological advances also mean that video games will become ever more exciting and adrenaline inducing, and thus the potential for growth in video games is extremely high.

"Toys and Games in the UK" is a new report from Euromonitor. Its cutting edge analysis presents an accurate picture of the industry, including in-depth coverage of both the traditional toys and games market and the video games market in the UK.

Top 10 markets for Video Games in Europe

http://www.euromonitor.com/Toys_and_Games_in_United_Kingdom#toc