More than three million game consoles were sold in the UK last year, including more than 450,000 PS5 machines, 310,000 Xbox series consoles and 1.5 million Nintendo Switch devices.
The latest data from graphics providers GfK and GSD and released by the Entertainment Retailers Association reveal more detailed information on the performance of the UK gaming market during 2020.
The data shows that all three platform holders had a much better year in 2020 compared to the previous year. The Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles combined generated about 600,000 sales, up from 500,000 for the Xbox One the previous year. PS5 and PS4 together delivered around 900,000 sales, which represents 700,000 PS4 in 2019. Finally, the Nintendo Switch dominated with 1.5 million units sold in 2020, compared to almost a million the previous year.
Of course, the PS5 and Xbox Series S / X would have sold a lot more had it not been for the issue of shares (Switch also suffered from a few out-of-stock moments). The PS5 and Xbox had a strong stock in November, but things got a little calmer in December compared to the PS4 and Xbox One launches in 2013.
In total, the PS5 generated £ 191 million in revenue, while the Xbox Series S / X generated £ 118 million. Switch generated £ 367.4 million.
One of the most fascinating figures in the yearbook is a look at how best-selling games performed digitally instead of physically. FIFA 21, the best-selling game of the year, was 52% digital, while Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was 69% digital. However, offline games for one player are still predominantly physical. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was 40% digital, The Last of Us Part 2 just under 37% and Spider-Man Miles Morales was 32% digital (check the chart below for complete divisions).
In terms of sales of physical games, it is not surprising to see that almost 71% of all games sold were delivered at home, which is expected considering the pandemic. High Street stores accounted for almost 16% of physical sales, while supermarkets were only 14% shy.
The average price of physical games increased by 0.8% in 2020 to £ 34.42.
To obtain first-rate data on the performance of the gaming market, click here.
Below is the complete analysis of digital / physical performance. This 2020 chart is courtesy of the data company GSD and published by ERA.
| Do not. | Title | Total sales | Physical Sales | Digital Sales | Digital Division |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FIFA 21 | 2,237,175 | 1,076,743 | 1,160,432 | 51.9% |
| two | Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War | 1,528,985 | 472,590 | 1,056,395 | 69.1% |
| 3 | Grand Theft Auto 5 | 1,248,608 | 314,129 | 934,479 | 74.8% |
| 4 | FIFA 20 | 904,029 | 341,917 | 562,112 | 62.2% |
| 5 | Called modern armament war | 899,921 | 330,650 | 569,271 | 63.3% |
| 6 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons | 810,535 | 810,535 | No data | N / A |
| 7 | Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | 693,367 | 415,533 | 277,834 | 40.1% |
| 8 | The Last of Us: Part 2 | 543,218 | 344,291 | 198,927 | 36.6% |
| 9 | NBA 2K20 | 481,535 | 59,508 | 422,027 | 87.6% |
| 10 | Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege | 455,705 | 36,002 | 419,703 | 92.1% |
| 11 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | 436,841 | 137,930 | 298,911 | 68.4% |
| 12 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe | 427,667 | 427,667 | No data | N / A |
| 13 | Spider-Man: Miles Morales | 400,636 | 273,629 | 127,007 | 31.7% |
| 14 | Monopoly Plus | 398,002 | N / A | 398,002 | 100% |
| 15 | Marvel Avengers | 380,596 | 252,085 | 128,511 | 33.8% |
| 16 | Tsushima’s Ghost | 373,472 | 192,523 | 180,949 | 48.5% |
| 17 | Cyberpunk 2077 | 371,215 | 371,215 | No data | N / D |
| 18 | Minecraft | 334,688 | 221,361 | 113,327 | 33.9% |
| 19 | Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 327,603 | 54,922 | 272,681 | 83.2% |
| 20 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | 312,915 | 180,551 | 132,364 | 42.3% |
The data for this chart is courtesy of GSD, which tracks physical game sales (all games) and digital game sales from selected publishers.
Digital data includes games from participating companies sold via Steam, Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Nintendo Eshop. Participating companies are Activision Blizzard, Anuman, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Codemasters, Electronic Arts, Focus Home Interactive, Koch Media, Microsoft, Milestone, Nacon, Paradox Interactive, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, THQ Nordic, Ubisoft and Warner Bros.