The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) has released overall sales figures for 2011. Totalling £1.42 billion, software sales were down 7% compared to 2010 figures but were up on earlier analyst forecasts.
Total sales (including hardware, games, accessories) equated £2.520 billion. That’s a year-on-year change of -13%.
Leading the charge in software sales were games released in the fourth quarter of 2011, with eight of the 10 best sellers released in the final three months of the year. The fourth quarter was responsible for generating 51% of the £1.42 billion. As we all already know, Modern Warfare 3 was the top earner; generating 2 million sales and £83 million in five days in the UK.
Console software accounted for £1.35 billion, with UKIE stating that much of that came from the Xbox 360 and Nintendo 3DS. Console hardware sales generated £646 million, while console/PC gaming accessories amounted £453 million (down 17%).
Motion control devices were the biggest single contributor to accessory sales, accounting for 27% of the total.
Andy Payne, UKIE Chairman, said:
“In a year when overall consumer spending was down, 2011 proved to be a better than expected year for the UK’s boxed-product games market. Helped by the launch of many top quality titles, particularly in quarter four, total software sales of £1.42bn was better than many predicted.
“2011 still saw some remarkable achievements, including the release of Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’, which exploded into UKIE Games Charts in week 45, 2011 generating £83m and 2m units in the UK over the first 5 days. And of course there was the launch of Nintendo’s 3DS hand-held, giving developers and publishers the chance of finding new and innovative ways to engage audiences.”
“The industry looks forward to the continued popularity of cloud, mobile and casual platforms in 2012. And we’re also looking forward to the launch of Sony’s new Vita hand-held and the possible UK launch of Nintendo’s Wii U, both of which have the potential to re-ignite the console market, prior to any announcements concerning successors to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PS3.”
