Video games now bigger than movies

Growth in digital has seen video games overtake movies as the most lucrative entertainment medium in the UK.

The figures published in the ERA Yearbook 2012 shows that despite faltering physical sales, digital downloads and apps meant UK games market sales reached 1.92bn in 2011.

That’s well ahead of video on 1.8bn, and music which is on 1.06bn.

Games accounted for over 40 per cent of the entertainment market.

However, for the first 11 weeks of 2012, sales of physical DVDs and Blu-rays are double that of games. Even with the inclusion of digital, video is still No.1.

This is a dramatic time for the entertainment market,” said ERA director general Kim Bayley.

It’s a historic development for games to overtake video, which has long been the biggest entertainment sector. But sales so far this year suggest video is not going down without a fight.”

Overall games, video and music sales dropped 3.3 per cent to 4.8bn.