The demise of physical games accelerated significantly last year in the UK, as overall game revenue also took a hit.
Physical game sales have been on a steady decline over the past decade, with some high-profile games like and having ditched boxed copies altogether.
The growing dominance of digital can also be seen with the digital-only versions of the and Series X consoles, and while there has been some pushback against an all-digital future with specialist sites like Limited Run, the demise of physical games now feels inevitable.
This tracks with new UK sales data, which shows 2024 was a significant turning point in the decline of physical sales.
According to data from the Entertainment Retailers Association, which is based on figures from Nielsen, India, and GSD, video game revenue in the UK dropped 4.4% last year, to £4.6 billion.
As reported by , this drop primarily stems from a collapse in physical game revenue in the country, with only £324.4 million generated by sales of boxed games in 2024. This is a drop of ‘nearly 35%’ when compared to 2023.
When you compare these numbers with digital, the difference is massive. In 2024, the digital market generated £4.29 billion through console, PC, mobile, and tablet game sales, which was only a 1% drop year-over-year.
Among these digital figures, PC download sales were down 5%, console downloads were down 15%, while mobile and tablet gaming rose by 2.6%.
Interestingly, subscription revenue went up 12%, which could be due to a boost in subscriber numbers, or simply because services like and Xbox Game Pass over the past year.
Overall, this means the video game market will place behind film and video in the UK for the second consecutive year, when previously it used to be out in front.
The decline of physical is best reflected in the UK’s best-selling game for 2024, , which sold 2.9 million copies. According to the data, 80% of the game’s sales were via digital stores.
While this paints a bleak picture for the future of physical games, ERA boss Kim Bayley suggests the format will still be significant moving forward, stating: ‘After the breakneck growth of recent years, it is no surprise that the market has slowed down, but it remains a giant.
‘Despite the attractions of digital business models to developers, we believe physical still has a role to play.’
Part of the problem with sales in 2024 is that there simply weren’t very many big name games, particularly in the normally busy autumn period. 2025 shouldn’t have that problem though, with and both expected to launch later this year.
Email [email protected], leave a comment below, , and .
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our .
For more stories like this, .
MORE:
MORE:
MORE:
