2021 UK Consumer Games Market Valuation
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The post below begins with a summary of 2021's figures as revised in 2023 with the original published figures discussed below. All graphics refer to figures as published in Apr 2022.
2021 Valuation - Revised Figures
The revised figures for 2021 saw the UK consumer games market valued at a new record of £7.47bn, up 6.2% on final figures for 2020. Video game software was valued at £4.55bn, with digital console software sales representing the largest portion at £2.07bn. Game hardware was valued at £2.66bn, unchanged from the original reporting in 2022. Game culture was valued at £249m. The complete 2021 valuation, including revised figures, is presented below
| Categories | Data Supplier | 2020 (£) | 2021 (£) | % Growth |
| Boxed software | GfK Entertainment | 646m | 511m | -21% |
| Digital console | Omdia | 1.74bn | 2.07bn | +19% |
| Digital PC | Omdia | 667m | 645m | -3.2% |
| Mobile games | Omdia | 1.46bn | 1.29bn | -12% |
| Pre-owned | Kantar | 42.6 | 33.8 | -21% |
| Game software total | 4.56bn | 4.55bn | -0.24% | |
| Console hardware | GfK Entertainment | 853m | 1.13bn | +33% |
| PC game hardware | GfK Entertainment | 832m | 881m | +5.9% |
| Console game accessories | GfK Entertainment | 453m | 464m | +2.4% |
| VR Hardware | GfK Entertainment | 129m | 183m | +42% |
| Game hardware total | 2.27bn | 2.66bn | +17% | |
| Toys and merchandising | NPD | 119m | 182m | +53% |
| Books and magazines | Nielsen, ABC, Ukie | 10.5m | 11.8m | +12% |
| Film, TV and soundtracks | BFI / OCC / Ukie | 22.9m | 3.98m | -83% |
| Events and venues | Ukie | 0.249m | 1.04m | -24.5% |
| Streaming and game video content | Ukie | 45.6m | 49.8m | +9.2% |
| Game culture total | 198m | 249m | +25% | |
| UK Games Market total | 7.03bn | 7.47bn | +6.2% |
The revised figures for 2021 saw a change in methodology for valuing digital console software sales, which has not been projected backwards to 2020 figures, so the year on year change for this figure is unlikely to represent actual change in consumer behaviour between 2020 and 2021.
2021 Valuation
The UK consumer games market reached a record figure of £7.16bn in 2021, growing by 1.90% from the previous record of £7bn recorded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Game hardware sales grew by 17.4% year on year to reach £2.66bn, game software was valued at £4.28bn, a decline of 6.32% and spending on video game culture reached £226m, up 13.8% on 2020.
The valuation, which takes place every year ahead of the start of the London Games Festival, explores how much money consumers in the UK spend on game software, game hardware and on game culture (such as toys, movies and books).
Compiled with the support of our data partners ABC, The BFI, GfK Entertainment, Kantar, OCC, Omdia, Nielsen and NPD – alongside analysis from Ukie’s insight and innovation team – the valuation provides a detailed examination of the size, scale and make up of the country’s consumer games market.
Game Hardware
Game hardware sales grew by 17.4% year on year to reach £2.66bn in 2021 – further increasing upon the record total seen in 2020’s consumer valuation.
The main driver of the growth in hardware sales in the UK was a significant bump in the sale of console hardware. The category grew by 32.9% from 2020, reaching a record figure of £1.13bn that propelled the overall market to new heights.
“2021 was the first full calendar year for Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series consoles,” said Dorian Bloch, Senior Client Director at GfK Entertainment. “Both made a huge impact in Q4/20 at launch, with consumer demand outstripping supply, so there is no surprise that this is the best year since the all-time peak back in 2008.
But we should not forget that Nintendo’s Switch also enjoyed another big year in 2021. This is a fifth year at market for the Switch, which has been rejuvenated and refreshed a number of times since 2017 - most notably with Switch Lite in 2019 and Switch OLED in 2020.”
There was also a significant growth in Virtual Reality (VR) hardware sales. The category reached a new high of £183m, recording an increase of 41.9% compared to 2020. The increase occurred shortly before the Oculus Quest 2 was officially renamed the Meta Quest following its parent company’s rebrand in November 2021.
There was also minor growth in the PC game hardware and console game accessories, with each growing by 5.89% (£881m) and 2.43% (£464m) across the course of 2021.
