January retail games sales jump 24 per cent

UK games retailers enjoyed a bumper January, despite a severe lack of new games.

According to UKIE/GfK Chart-Track figures, 2.2m physical games were sold in UK stores last month, which is 5.4 per cent up over January 2013. The combined revenue of these games topped 58.5m, a 23.9 per cent increase over the same period a year before.

The results are impressive considering the lack of new releases last month. The only new game to enter the Top 50 chart for the month was Mario Party: Island Tour on 3DS, which reached No.47.

UK games retailers told MCV at the start of the year that a lack of releases will allow the stores to shift extra stock of the big Christmas software, with consumers spending much of their festive cash on console hardware.

And the big Christmas titles drove the market, led by EA’s FIFA 14, which is on track to become the best-selling FIFA title. Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4, Assassin’s Creed IV and LEGO Marvel also continue to sell well.

Meanwhile, PS4 and Xbox One continue their strong starts, with Sony’s machine outpacing Microsoft’s. Almost half a million Xbox One and PS4 games were sold last month. However, Xbox 360 and PS3 remain the biggest platforms in terms of software sales due to their high install bases, with 360 leading the way.