Ten-year low for UK games retail

Looters kicked the UK games retail market while it was down last week, as the sector posted its worst results in ten years.

The boxed games market was worth 9.64m for the week ending August 13th. It is the lowest figure since September 2001.Furthermore, just 526,351 games were sold – again, the lowest number since the summer of 2001. All statistics are courtesy of Gfk Chart-Track.

It’s been a cruel summer for games on the High Street, with few new releases, economic pressures, and increased spending on non-retail titles on Facebook, Xbox Live, PSN and iPhone.

The decline last week was worsened by rioting, with hooligans ripping through London, Manchester and Birmingham.Several GAME and HMV shops were vandalised and looted, as were non-specialists such as Currys. Other shops closed early throughout the week, while consumers stayed away from the High Street.

The Centre of Retail Research estimated that the riots have cost UK retail 80m in lost sales and says the High Street is likely to ‘feel the fallout of the riots for several months to come’.