UK video games market now 80% digital (PC/mobile/console, revenue), FIFA 19 best-selling game of 2018, Spider-Man best-selling exclusive

patapon · Jan 3, 2019

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-01-02-uk-video-games-market-is-now-80-percent-digital

UK video games (excluding hardware) generated £3.864 billion last year, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association.

Digital accounted for over £3 billion of that number, representing 80.1 per cent of the market. Digital grew 12.5 per cent year-on-year, whereas physical sales dropped slightly by 2.8 per cent (as revealed yesterday).

It seems a bit negative for the physical market, but these figures do not include hardware. And actually more consoles were sold in 2018 than in 2017. GamesIndustry.biz can reveal over 2.4 million games machines were sold in the UK last year. PS4 was the biggest selling console, with sales flat year-on-year, but Nintendo Switch was the biggest growth area, with Switch console sales up more than 20 per cent.

Indeed, physical remains a strong part of the games retail business. According to ERA, the best-selling game of the year was FIFA 19 with 2.5 million units sold... 1.89 million of those sales came physically. That means when it comes to AAA releases, digital sales only account for around 25 per cent of the games sold.

It's interesting to see Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, no doubt benefitting from strong Switch hardware sales, at No.5. The game sold more copies last year than it did in 2017, with 458,675 physical units sold, besting 2017's 341,531.

It wasn't the biggest exclusive in the charts, however, that honour falls to Spider-Man on PS4, at No.4 with 676,621 games sold.

Here is the UKIE/GfK Top 20 best-selling games of 2018:

1. FIFA 19 - 1,889,401

2. Red Dead Redemption 2 - 1,757,212

3. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 - 1,172,855

4. Spider-Man - 676,621

5. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe - 458,675

6. Far Cry 5 - 434,133

7. Crash Bandicoot N-Sane Trilogy - 430,551

8. God of War - 399,395

9. Forza Horizon 4 - 392,960

10. FIFA 18 - 351,788

11. Grand Theft Auto V - 339,805

12. Spyro Reignited Trilogy - 333,725

13. Battlefield V - 313,100

14. Assassin's Creed Odyssey - 305,937

15. Super Smash Bros Ultimate - 284,155

16. Super Mario Odyssey - 240,710

17. Call of Duty: WWII - 230,576

18. Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu - 227,767

19. Shadow of the Tomb Raider - 226,125

20. Fallout 76 - 218,534

Paxton25 · Jan 3, 2019

God those forza numbers are great considering it's on gamepass!

gundamkyoukai · Jan 3, 2019

Big numbers for spidey and GOW.
Nintendo games doing great like usual and FH4 also did great .
To bad we don't have DD figures for top 20 .

Deleted member 12833 · Jan 3, 2019

Wow at 80%

Menx64 · Jan 3, 2019

It's interesting to see Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, no doubt benefitting from strong Switch hardware sales, at No.5. The game sold more copies last year than it did in 2017, with 458,675 physical units sold, besting 2017's 341,531...

Who wants to bet it will sell even more this year?

Peleo · Jan 3, 2019

Surprisingly low Ultimate numbers, expected it to be much more ahead of Odyssey. The game will have the longest of legs though.

Paxton25 · Jan 3, 2019

gundamkyoukai said:
Big numbers for spidey and GOW.
Nintendo games doing great like usual and FH4 also did great .
To bad we don't have DD figures for top 20 .

I'd say god of war numbers are pretty disappointing to be honest, the games a masterpiece.

ThisIsBlitz21 · Jan 3, 2019

So it isn't as doom and gloom for Tomb Raider as many implied it to be.

weekev · Jan 3, 2019

Crazy that Mario Kart 8 is the top selling Switch game. Smash only just ahead of Odyssey as well.

Kenzodielocke · Jan 3, 2019

People will think this is 80% sold digitally, it's not. It's revenue.

H-I-M · Jan 3, 2019

Mario Kart outsold GOW and almost came for Spidey.
Jesus Christ the longevity.
Mario Odyssée can't relate.

carlsojo · Jan 3, 2019

EIGHTY PERCENT? wow I wonder what's driving the UK to that level, unless other markets are on the same level.

Paxton25 · Jan 3, 2019

Wait look at GTAV....is there anyone else alive in the UK to buy this game ? 😂

Majiebeast · Jan 3, 2019

Paxton25 said:
I'd say god of war numbers are pretty disappointing to be honest, the games a masterpiece.

God of war was never big in Europe this game did what Sony wanted and that is make GoW a top seller in Europe and they more then succeeded at that.

texhnolyze · Jan 3, 2019

Kenzodielocke said:
People will think this is 80% sold digitally, it's not. It's revenue.

Yeah, which means lots and lots of microtransactions revenue.

Paxton25 · Jan 3, 2019

Majiebeast said:
God of war was never big in Europe this game did what Sony wanted and that is make GoW a top seller in Europe and they more then succeeded at that.

You're probably right here, it my first god of war game ever and I wasn't disappointed.

gundamkyoukai · Jan 3, 2019

Paxton25 said:
I'd say god of war numbers are pretty disappointing to be honest, the games a masterpiece.

Nah GOW was never big in EU or UK .
So we looking at 300% to 400% jump when you add DD.

H-I-M said:
Mario Kart outsold GOW and almost came for Spidey.
Jesus Christ the longevity.
Mario Odyssée can't relate.

Still spidey and GOW don't have there DD figures which would be higher on PS4\XB.
But yeah the legs are great and should be same for smash this year .

MrTired · Jan 3, 2019

carlsojo said:
EIGHTY PERCENT? wow I wonder what's driving the UK to that level, unless other markets are on the same level.

Lucreto said:
I am surprised at 80% considering it is still cheaper to buy the game physically than digitally. People must be more willing to pay for the convenience of digital.

That's revenue including mobile, digital share is only 25% in the AAA space.

Lucreto · Jan 3, 2019

I am surprised at 80% considering it is still cheaper to buy the game physically than digitally. People must be more willing to pay for the convenience of digital.

gundamkyoukai · Jan 3, 2019

Lucreto said:
I am surprised at 80% considering it is still cheaper to buy the game physically than digitally. People must be more willing to pay for the convenience of digital.

The 80% is for more than game sales .

Paxton25 · Jan 3, 2019

Lucreto said:
I am surprised at 80% considering it is still cheaper to buy the game physically than digitally. People must be more willing to pay for the convenience of digital.

Everything iv paid for this year bar GOW has been digital, I really wish I could support game shops but I just don't have the time to get to them.

Fularu · Jan 3, 2019

gundamkyoukai said:
Nah GOW was never big in EU or UK .
So we looking at 300% to 400% jump when you add DD .

No

OP says AAA is about 25% digital

El Manco · Jan 3, 2019

MrTired said:
That's revenue including mobile, digital share is only 25% in the AAA space.

25% is actually the retail sales ratio of a single game, FIFA 19. And it is the only one mentioned in the ERA report, which is in this case the source of the gamesindustry.biz article. There is no information in ERA report about ratios of other AAA titles:
https://eraltd.org/news-events/pres...-in-2018-to-sixth-consecutive-year-of-growth/

Paxton25 · Jan 3, 2019

Fularu said:
No

OP says AAA is about 25% digital

And quotes one game in fifa, I wouldn't say it's 25% across the AAA board.

gundamkyoukai · Jan 3, 2019

Fularu said:
No

OP says AAA is about 25% digital

I am talking compare to old GOW games.
Which sold around 100k to 150k in the UK.
So even with 25% DD numer it around 300% growth it could be more since i expect some titles would have a higher DD percentage.

OldBritBloke · Jan 3, 2019

Paxton25 said:
God those forza numbers are great considering it's on gamepass!

The game is great and is set in the UK. Can't court a market much more directly than that ;)

Wander_ · Jan 3, 2019

thread title should be changed a bit, people are misinterpretating that 80%

D.Lo · Jan 3, 2019

MrTired said:
That's revenue including mobile, digital share is only 25% in the AAA space.

Oh, it includes mobile? And presumably subscriptions, DLC etc. So, not really 80%. And even the 25% figure is just for Fifa.

I didn't think we'd get full digital share figures, unlikely all companies (eg Nintendo) shared theirs.

Fularu · Jan 3, 2019

gundamkyoukai said:
I am talking compare to old GOW games.
Which sold around 100k to 150k in the UK.
So even with 25% DD numer it around 300% growth it could be more since i expect some titles would be higher DD percentage.

Your post was confusing since it could be read as « add 300-400% with DD », I get what you're saying now

oracion · Jan 3, 2019

patapon said:
18. Pokemon: Let's Go, Pikachu - 227,767

Is this included Eevee?

Pryme · Jan 3, 2019

Forza Horizon 4 outselling Battlefield V and within 7k units of God of War. Despite being on Gamepass. That's quite something!

Spider-Man is a phenomenon. And clearly, Nintendo are masters at keeping their titles evergreen. Also a great feat when you consider Nintendo's games only get discounted very slowly.

MrTired · Jan 3, 2019

El Manco said:
25% is actually the retail sales ratio of a single game, FIFA 19. And it is the only one mentioned in the ERA report, which is in this case the source of the gamesindustry.biz article. There is no information in ERA report about ratios of other AAA titles:
https://eraltd.org/news-events/pres...-in-2018-to-sixth-consecutive-year-of-growth/

Your correct, it however isn't the 80% that is being quoted.

Akela · Jan 3, 2019

Looking at that list, man it's been a great year for games.

Fularu · Jan 3, 2019

higashi042 said:
Is this included Eevee?

No

Pryme · Jan 3, 2019

Peleo said:
Surprisingly low Ultimate numbers, expected it to be much more ahead of Odyssey. The game will have the longest of legs though.

Agreed. I thought it'd sell much higher.

gundamkyoukai · Jan 3, 2019

D.Lo said:
Oh, it includes mobile? And presumably subscriptions, DLC etc. So, not really 80%. And even the 25% figure is just for Fifa.

I didn't think we'd get full digital share figures, unlikely all companies (eg Nintendo) shared theirs.

If it turns out like NPD we will get most companies DD data but Nintendo and PC sales for certain companies .
Still that would be a big plus to only having physical like we have now.

Quinton · Jan 3, 2019

80%, holy dang. Massive.

Fularu · Jan 3, 2019

This OP and the title need to get fixed before people keep mistaking the 80% digital as console software sales versus retail

Sonicfan059 · Jan 3, 2019

Spider-Man is a crazy phenomenon!!

MrTired · Jan 3, 2019

Quinton said:
80%, holy dang. Massive.

Please read the OP.

Fularu said:
This OP and the title need to get fixed before people keep mistaking the 80% digital as console software sales versus retail

Yep

El Manco · Jan 3, 2019

MrTired said:
Your correct, it however isn't the 80% that is being quoted.

Yep, it cannot be that high. I think recent estimates for digital sales of full games are in the range of "only" 35%-50%. With FIFA being one exception for EA, with quite high retail ratio yet.

Edit: so, it is still possible RDR2 sold more units that FIFA 19 in UK when digital sales are included. That would be... big news for UK market.

Quinton · Jan 3, 2019

MrTired said:
Please read the OP.

Yep

Apologies, thanks. :) I'm usually pretty on the ball about that stuff but I'm multitasking with a tabletop game.

Kodama4 · Jan 3, 2019

I'm confused, how can 80% of revenue be from digital but retail sales YoY declined 2.8% ?!? How is this possible?

henhowc · Jan 3, 2019

gtav gonna still be charting til gtav6 comes out in 5 years

MrTired · Jan 3, 2019

El Manco said:
Yep, it cannot be that high. I think recent estimates for digital sales of full games are in the range of "only" 35%-50%. With FIFA being one exception for EA, with quite high retail ratio yet.

Edit: so, it is still possible RDR2 sold more units that FIFA 19 in UK when digital sales are included. That would be... big news for UK market.

It seems Destiny 2 +30% digital sales are more the exception to the rule according to the information we got last year.

ZhugeEX said:
2017 was the biggest ever year for games software, reaching a record £3.56bn in sales, driven by record results in both Digital and Online sales (£1.6bn, +13.4%) and Mobile Games, which achieved revenues over £1bn for the first time (£1.07, +7.8%). Boxed software remains a substantial factor in software sales and reversed recent trends to return a +3.4% increase in sales to £790m.

Top 20 Games (Packaged and Digital Sales)*

01. FIFA 18 (ELECTRONIC ARTS) - 2,696,721 (19.9% digital)
02. CALL OF DUTY: WWII (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD) - 2,442,416 (22.8% digital)
03. GRAND THEFT AUTO V (TAKE 2) - 1,080,022
04. ASSASSIN'S CREED ORIGINS (UBISOFT) - 679,965 (20.4% digital)
05. DESTINY 2 (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD) - 673,551 (38.5% Digital)
06. STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II (ELECTRONIC ARTS) - 658,814 (21.5% digital)
07. CRASH BANDICOOT N.SANE TRILOGY (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD) - 651,354 (26.5% digital)
08. TOM CLANCY'S GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS (UBISOFT) - 574,889
09. GRAN TURISMO: SPORT (SONY COMPUTER ENT.) - 484,833 (12.4% digital)
10. HORIZON ZERO DAWN (SONY COMPUTER ENT.) - 456,374
11. FIFA 17 (ELECTRONIC ARTS) - 425,778
12. FORZA HORIZON 3 (MICROSOFT) - 400,118
13. CALL OF DUTY: INFINTE WARFARE (ACTIVISION BLIZZARD) - 381,478
14. RESIDENT EVIL 7 (CAPCOM) - 354,247
15. MARIO KART 8 DELUXE (NINTENDO) - 341,531*
16. SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY (NINTENDO) - 339,719*
17. LEGO WORLDS (WARNER BROS.) - 336,676
18. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD (NINTENDO) - 329,013*
19. FORZA MOTORSPORT 7 (MICROSOFT) - 267,981 (21% digital)
20. FALLOUT 4 (BETHESDA) - 223,557

*Nintendo and Bethesda don't provide digital sales numbers (Not that it'd make a difference to the top 10)

(I looked into the numbers and you can assume around a ~25% digital share, on average, for the games above.)

https://eraltd.org/news-events/pres...elps-entertainment-outstrip-the-printed-word/

Madmackem · Jan 3, 2019

Pryme said:
Forza Horizon 4 outselling Battlefield V and within 7k units of God of War. Despite being on Gamepass. That's quite something!

Spider-Man is a phenomenon. And clearly, Nintendo are masters at keeping their titles evergreen. Also a great feat when you consider Nintendo's games only get discounted very slowly.

So these numbers include bundles? There was a point you couldn't buy an Xbox without a copy of fh4 being thrown in, nearly all the crazy good Black Friday onwards had it. Highly rated driving game set in the uk was always going to sell well.

El Manco · Jan 3, 2019

MrTired said:
It seems Destiny 2 +30% digital sales are more the exception to the rule according to the information we got last year.

Thanks!
FIFA was still the third party AAA with highest retail ratio, but not so far from many others.
I also expect some first party games to have very big retail ratio, because these are often included with the most popular packs and bundles. That would be Spiderman this year, GT Sports last year.

gcwy · Jan 3, 2019

Madmackem said:
So these numbers include bundles? There was a point you couldn't buy an Xbox without a copy of fh4 being thrown in, nearly all the crazy good Black Friday onwards had it. Highly rated driving game set in the uk was always going to sell well.

So it's doing good because of bundles or because it's a good game? Which is it?

Majora85 · Jan 3, 2019

That's one misleading thread title.

bane833 · Jan 3, 2019

Majora85 said:
That's one misleading thread title.

Not really. People just jump to conclusions without overthinking stuff.

UK video games market now 80% digital (PC/mobile/console, revenue), FIFA 19 best-selling game of 2018, Spider-Man best-selling exclusive

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