UK PC games market hits £771m

PC gaming in the UK is experiencing a digital revolution.

According to SuperData, the UK digital PC software market – comprising DLC, MMO titles and social games revenue – was worth 741m in 2014. This is a nine per cent increase on 2013’s total of 706m.

Meanwhile, UKIE and GfK Chart-Track state that 30m of boxed PC software was sold in the UK during 2014. This is a substantial drop of 30 per cent on the sector’s 43m value in 2013.

The revenue drop is more severe when you consider the average selling prices of PC games were up in the UK last year. PC games retailed for an average of 18.36 in 2014 versus 16.62 in 2013.

However, thanks to the strength of digital, the overall PC software segment grew three per cent from 2013 to 2014, rising from 749m to 771m.

The situation is reversed on consoles. SuperData estimates that the console digital games market was worth 118m in the UK last year, by contrast, GfK Chart-Track reports that UK boxed console games sales was worth 999m in 2014.

Last month’s MCV revealed that PC title Cities: Skylines would have been the UK’s best-selling game during the week beginning March 8th if digital sales were included in official retail chart statistics, ahead of triple-A efforts such as Grand Theft Auto V, Dying Light and FIFA 15.