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The Entertainment Retailers Association released its annual report on the entertainment market (video, music and games) and found it has broken a new record in 2017 by reaching £7.24bn – a 8.8 per cent increase year-on-year.
The video games market hit £3,353bn in 2017, which represented a 9.6 per cent rise compared to 2016. Unsurprisingly, growth in digital was particularly strong, with sales up 12.1 per cent year-on-year and reaching over £2.5bn in 2017.
But physical sales were also up, with games actually being the only entertainment sector seeing growth in boxed products. Physical sales for games were up 2.1 per cent year-on-year, hitting £792.4m.
Elsewhere, music saw a 9.6 per cent increase year-on-year, reaching £1.2bn, with streaming seeing an impressive growth of 41.9 per cent compared to 2016. Meanwhile, the video market was up 7.5 per cent and reached £2.7bn.
It should be noted that the data was compiled using figures from GfK and IHS and is preliminary data. Numbers will be updated when ERA publishes its Yearbook in March 2018.
ERA CEO Kim Bayley commented: “This is an historic result which demonstrates the benefits of innovation and investment in new technology. New digital services are bringing ever increasing numbers of the UK population back to entertainment with 24/7 access to the music, video and games they want. In the past the growth of the market tended to be dependent on the release schedules of games publishers, film studios and record labels. Now we are seeing a market which is also driven by digital platforms and technologies.
“Physical may no longer be the default option for many people that it once was, but it remains a substantial £2bn business. Where physical really comes into its own is where it offers something distinctive and additional to the content, whether it be the tactile experience of vinyl or the simple fact that physical objects work well as gifts. I remain confident that physical entertainment formats will continue to be with us for years to come.”
