UK Game Sales Demonstrate Resilience in 2023, Despite Economic Challenges

The year 2024 has proven to be challenging for the gaming industry, making it an ideal time to assess the previous year's performance and gauge demand-side conditions in the UK full games market. With the complete set of UK retail and GSD-tracked digital data available for 2023, the results are overwhelmingly positive. Combined physical and digital unit sales for 2023 were 3% higher than in 2022, with average price increases in new games rising by 14% between 2021 and 2023. Although the transition to digital has slowed, unit sales for digital full games continue to grow as a share of the total UK market. Despite economic headwinds, spending on full video games in the UK during 2023 remained robust. This analysis utilizes Game Sales Data to provide a comprehensive view of the UK's full game market in 2023, encompassing both physical disc format games and digital code receipts. Full-game unit sales reached 38.2 million units in 2023, representing a 3% increase compared to 2022. The first four months of 2022 and 2023 saw similar combined unit sales, with successful title releases in both years. However, 2023 began to outperform 2022 from May onwards, driven by the release of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Activision Blizzard's Diablo 4. The second half of the year saw tighter margins in unit sell-through between the two years, with some losses offset by the release of Starfield, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder. In terms of new game sales versus catalogue game sales, 2023 performed strongly. New games are defined as those sold within their first 12 weeks on the market, while catalogue sales refer to games that have been on the market for over 12 weeks. Unit sales for new games reached 11.8 million units in 2023, a marginal decline of 1% compared to 2022 but 10% higher than in 2021. Unit sales for catalogue games came to 26.4 million units, an increase of 5% since 2022 but 11% lower than in 2021. Video games continue to offer one of the best entertainment values for money, making them an attractive option in times of economic uncertainty. The value proposition offered by games has become increasingly appealing as spending becomes tighter. While it is debatable whether games are 'recession-proof,' indications from 2023 show strong resilience against spending decline. Spending on full games for both physical and digital formats reached £1.27 billion, representing a 4% increase compared to 2022 and 5% higher than in 2021. The growth in spending is driven by digital full game spending, which increased by 8% since 2022 to reach £785 million by 2023. Although physical disc spending has continued to decline, the rate of decline has slowed. It would be misleading to state that physical game spending is dying, as sales trends depend on various factors, including the scope of the analysis and the types of games being investigated. Some of the increase in spending between 2021 and 2023 can be attributed to the rising average price of games. The average price of physical boxed brand new games increased from £50 in 2021 to £57 in 2023, while the average price of brand new digital games rose from £59 in 2021 to £68 by 2023. This represents a 14% increase for both formats. The impact of increasing game prices was not limited to new games, as the average price for all video games in the market also rose. The price for all physical disc format games increased from £33 in 2021 to £34 by 2023, while the price for all digital format games rose by 19% since 2021 to £29 by 2023. It is encouraging to see that the video game price increases have not dampened additional unit video game sales, demonstrating the desire of UK gamers to continue buying games despite economic uncertainty. The growing appetite for video games in the UK is evident when examining the top ten best-selling games by units during 2023. Two games experienced an increase in unit sales during 2023 compared to their ranked counterparts from 2022. The 42% increase in sales of the second-ranked game, EA Sports FC 24, offset losses elsewhere among the top ten. In 2023, the top ten ranked games sold just 2% fewer units compared to the top ten titles of 2022. Interestingly, the 2% variance in unit sales between 2023 and 2022 was also evident when comparing the top ten titles for both physical and digital formats combined. In 2023, only four games beat their ranked counterparts from 2022, possibly due to increased spending on cheaper catalogue titles. In summary, GSD-tracked data for 2023 UK full video game sales can be characterized as resilient. Although there was 3% growth in unit sales and 5% growth in spending, UK consumers did not enthusiastically embrace new releases in 2023, instead opting to bolster sales of catalogue and older games. The 14% increase in average price for new games in the last two years may have affected consumer behavior, leading some to wait for price reductions. Signs indicate that 2024 could be a repeat of 2023, with fewer major releases expected in the first half of the year. As an optimist, the latter half of the year should hopefully offset any declines during this early period.