The United Kingdom is an incredibly small country in terms of landmass. However, its hefty 66.6 million-strong population and driven consumer base are making it one of the biggest games markets in the world. The nation has been very embracing of the entertainment technology for decades, and now, it’s at the forefront of each new development in the industry.
Standing sixth in the world for its game revenues, as noted by the NewZoo.com report, the only country with a smaller population that outpaces the UK is the Korea Republic. Other than the 51.8 million Asian nation, it’s only the massive populous of Germany, Japan, the United States, and China that reel in more in gaming revenues.
Not only is the UK muscling in amongst the largest gaming markets but gaming itself has become the biggest entertainment medium in the country. The 2020 reports show that gaming alone has far surpassed both video and music in yearly revenues. Across digital and physical sales, gaming made over £3.7 billion to video’s £2.6 billion and music’s £1.4 billion.
Future reports look to continue to reaffirm the ever-growing popularity of UK gaming in all sectors. GamesUndustry.biz informs us that PC gaming is greatly on the rise in the UK, with the platform seeing a 46 per cent daily increase between January and May 2019 to the same period this year. The surge in computer gaming is certainly stark, but it’s clear that the industry is incredibly healthy and increasingly popular across the board.
The UK can’t get enough of new consoles
Console gaming may not make up the largest revenues segment of the market, nor is it experiencing the most considerable uptick in 2020, but it’s certainly a popular way to play in the UK. Right now, we’re seeing the perfect storm of top game releases, increased accessibility from end-of-generation console prices, and next-gen pre-orders.
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 initially launched in 2013. Now, several variations later and with stacked games libraries, people can buy the best of the console families for £250 with a game or two. That said, the 2017-launched Nintendo Switch looks to be the real winner from the continuing surge of UK gaming. UK Switch hardware sales, as reported by VideoGameChronicle.com, have jumped up again following a period of the hybrid Nintendo console being sold-out, with several top-selling games fuelling interest.
However, it’s not only about British gamers piling onto proven hardware, or snapping up bargains, with the next generation of consoles selling out extremely quickly. Supply was always going to be short due to the state of global production right now, but the console companies also made it distinctly awkward to pre-order the new hardware.
Despite all of this, many UK customers still managed to get their pre-orders in for a launch day PlayStation or Xbox. They rapidly sold-out the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S waves of pre-orders. Strangely enough, neither console is set to launch with a ground-breaking new exclusive, and yet, the sales have been so strong that Sony and Microsoft are scrambling to make more available in the UK.
Of course, people only buy hardware for the software, with the game releases over the last few years being incredible. We’ve seen titles like God of War, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Horizon Zero Dawn, the Britain-set Forza Horizon 4, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ghost of Tsushima, the Britain-based Pokémon Sword and Shield, and Marvel’s Spider-Man sell tremendously over the last few years, alongside popular yearly releases like the FIFA and Call of Duty games.
A competitive space allowing classic games to thrive
Great Britain hasn’t ever really been known as a hub for casino gaming. Even though London had a few classy establishments in the day, and still has one or two, the likes of Macao, Las Vegas, and Monte Carlo are certainly in the top tier for this form of gaming. Yet, the UK has rapidly become the largest market for online casino gaming, with the remote sector seeing £3.2 billion in global gambling yield.
Indeed, remote casino play is just half-a-billion shy of video gaming if the yield is treated as a measurement of popularity, if not more so, what with video gaming never giving its gamers monetary rewards. Furthermore, the sector continues to grow. The scene has been able to become so popular because of the strict regulations put in place and enforced by the UK Gambling Commission.
Under these regulations, several trusted sites have been able to enter the UK market to compete, which has, in turn, ramped up the competition to create an even more user-friendly space. This has further brought about the need for gamer guidance, which is why OnlineCasinos.co.uk is your go-to casino resource, performing in-depth reviews on each platform available. It’s clear that that industry is competitive, so sites such as this can benefit customers.
As with consoles, however, having access to top-class platforms doesn’t automatically make players want to get into gaming. Libraries in the UK are regularly updated with new slots and table games, with the highlight titles recently being the slot version of the arcade classic Street Fighter II, Age of Conquest, The Cube, 11 Champions, and Lara Croft: Temples and Tombs.
As is the case around the world, convenience is also king in the UK
In the global games industry, mobile gaming has become the largest segment, accounting for nearly half of all game revenues despite most titles being free-to-start. While the UK only just cracks the top-ten for total smartphone users, the country boasts the highest smartphone penetration rate – greater than Germany, the Korea Republic, or the United States.
As such, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that mobile gaming is big business in Britain. In fact, the accessible and convenient platform of gaming could be credited for the widespread embrace of other more expensive forms of the medium. It should also be noted that, in terms of app spending, Apple users spend significantly more than Android users, and the UK is one of the few jurisdictions where the market share of iOS and Android is close to equal.
The highest-grossing games of the British mobile market tend to be those that have long been established as quality products. The likes of Clash of Clans, Candy Crush Saga, and Pokémon Go remain in the top-ten. However, the undisputed king is the sensational community-driven Roblox, while newly trending games like Among Us! and Homescapes have flown up the charts.
Great Britain has certainly become a nation of gamers, with PC gaming currently flying from within an already thriving scene.