Retail suffers winter blues

The UK games software market plunged 11.8 per cent in December, according to GfK Chart-Track.

14.91m units of games were sold last month, down from the 16.9m sold during the same period the year before.

The software value figure was also down, albeit slightly. 366.63m was made by UK games retailers during December, a 2.1 per cent dip on the 374.4m generated over Christmas 2009.

Retailers have blamed snow for the drop in sales. Several online retailers even had to stop taking Christmas orders early as postal services struggled to cope with the icy conditions.

EA was the most successful publisher of the month with four games in the Top Ten.

Most games were sold on Xbox 360. The console had a 27.7 per cent share of the software market in units and 31.8 per cent in terms of value. Wii was close behind after seeing a Christmas sales surge.

The December Top Ten

1. Call of Duty: Black Ops
2. FIFA 11
3. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
4. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
5. Just Dance 2
6. Gran Turismo 5
7. Michael Jackson: The Experience
8. Wii Fit Plus
9. Medal of Honor
10. The Sims 3