The UK video games market was valued at £7.05B in 2022 -UKIE

A new report from The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) revealed that the video game market in the United Kingdom was valued at £7.05 billion in 2022. While that marks a 5.6% decrease from the previous year, it is still 17% higher than pre-pandemic figures.

According to the 2022 UK Consumer Games Market report, digital console games saw the most consumer spend (£1.98B) last year despite a 4.7% Y/Y drop. They were followed by mobile games at £1.43B (+11%), digital PC games at £660M (+2.2%), boxed games at £489M (-4.3%), and pre-owned games at £21.3M (-37%) respectively. Meanwhile, the UK-made games revenue grew by 0.44% to £6.57B, with their market share increasing to 16%.

When it comes to video game hardware, consumers spent £832 million (-27%) on console hardware, £760 million (-14%), on PC game hardware, £396 million (-15%), on console game accessories, and £171 million on VR hardware, UKIE said.

The non-profit trade organization also revealed that consumers spent a total of £316 million on game culture in 2022, up 27% year-over-year.

According to the report, spending on streaming video game content dropped by 4.8% Y/Y to £47.4 million, toys and merchandising grew by 7.7% to £196 million, and books & magazines increased by 17% to £13.9 million.

Meanwhile, film, TV & soundtrack revenue reached £54.8 million, and events & venues revenue hit £4.35 million.

“We’re pleased to see the UK video games consumer market has maintained its growth trajectory and remains in-line with where we expected it to be in 2019,” said Dr. Jo Twist OBE, CEO of UKIE, in a statement. “Although we may have seen a natural levelling off following increased spending during the lockdown years, it’s clear that the appetite for games and games culture in the UK is still strong.”

According to another recent report from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte, the UK digital publishing revenue grew by 3% Y/Y to £176.9 in Q4 2022.