NPD: Europe’s Q1 used, digital and social market worth £798m

The combined sales of the used, rental, digital and social games markets was worth 798m across the UK, France and Germany, says a new NPD report.

The combined sales of used and rental games content totalled 191.5m. Meanwhile, digital sales, which included full games, add-on content, subscriptions, mobile and social network games generated an additional 612.3m in sales during Q1 2012.

Relative to the spend in the US, we find that the consumer spend on mobile games is still developing in the three European countries we are covering, while the spend on full game and add-on content digital downloads and subscriptions is more highly developed,” said NPD group industry analyst, Anita Fazier.

The report also detailed that, compared to Q1 2011, US sales saw a five per cent decline in the physical used and rental market and a 10 per cent increase in digital sales.

While the growth in digital format sales does not yet offset the declines in physical format sales, clearly the changes occurring within the industry are reflected in the trends we are seeing in the research.”