Video games is ‘biggest UK digital market’

The UK digital video games market is bigger than the music and DVD market combined, says retail body ERA.

The firm estimates the digital games market made 411m last year, followed by music at 280.7m and digital video at 77.4m.

Digital now accounts for 14.6 per cent of the entertainment retailing market by value.

The trade body estimates that the games, video and music market combined to be worth 5.26bn in 2010, a decline of 3 per cent year-on-year. The company blames the fall on declining sales of DVDs, physical albums and Wii and DS software.

Video is the biggest entertainment market, accounting for 40.4 per cent of that figure, followed by games with 36.9 per cent and lastly music, with a 22.8 per cent share.

The big winners in entertainment was the digital market, Blu-ray, as well as PS3 and 360.

Kim Bayley, Director General of the ERA, said, Consumers respond above all to innovation in the entertainment market. These figures clearly show that the more we can offer them new and exciting ways of enjoying entertainment content, the more they respond.”