Gaming Represents Nearly 50% of UKs Entertainment Spending

Without a doubt, one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world at the moment is gaming. I mean, these days, the chances are that you probably spend far more on gaming than, for example, buying albums or going to the cinema.

In a report via GamesIndustry, however, recent figures released in the UK show that gaming revenue is still on a huge incline and, for the first half of 2019, represented nearly 50% of total entertainment expenditure.

UK Gaming Hits Nearly 50% of Entertainment Spending

For the first half of 2019, roughly £1.56bn was spent on either video games, consoles of other related items. In terms of overall national ‘entertainment’ spending, which includes music, films, etc. this figure accounted for 47% of the total.

So, how does this break down? Well, digital figures account for roughly two-thirds of this total. It is, however, perhaps surprising to see that physical gaming sales still easily swamped that seen in physical music. Another industry that is seeing a significant shift to a digital platform.

Gaming Is Doing Well in 2019

So what is driving this success for gaming? Well, put simply, 2019 has (so far) proven to have a number of very popular releases. Total sales for the first half of this year show the following ‘UK overall’ top 10.

• Grand Theft Auto V (361,312)
• FIFA 19 (360,588)
• Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (263,520)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (259,931)
• Resident Evil 2 (239,495)
• Days Gone (229,182)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (175,451)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (172,065)
• Anthem (165,746)
• Forza Horizon 4 (144,790)

I am, perhaps, somewhat surprised to see so many older games on that list. Particularly since I’ve only actually bought one of those in 2019. Still, just in case you needed another reminder, the gaming industry is huge and seemingly only set to get bigger!

What do you think? How many of those games have you purchased? How about in 2019 so far? – Let us know in the comments!