UK retailers sell 2.2m boxed games in last big sales week before Christmas

UK boxed games retailers sold 2.23m video games last week.

In total, the likes of GAME, Amazon and Tesco made 56.7m from the sale of software. A rise of 13 per cent week-on-week.

The numbers are disappointing for those buyers and store managers expecting a late festive rush. For the comparable seven day period last year, games retailers sold 3.5m games.

It means that the video game software market is heading for a 29 per cent decline for 2012, a huge drop that will likely have a significant impact on the High Street.

However, 56.7m in a week is still a significant figure and signifies that despite the decline, there is still a lot of money to be made from traditional retail.

Furthermore, such a severe decline is unlikely to be repeated next year. With a busy Q1 release schedule, the anticipated arrivals of GTA V and Battlefield 4 (alongside the traditional Call of Dutys and FIFAs) plus the prospect of next generation hardware, analysts and MCV expect next year to be a return to growth for the UK High Street.

Data is courtesy of UKIE/GfK Chart-Track.