Gaming is one of the most lucrative sectors of the entertainment industry. Millions of players play various games daily and the COVID-19 pandemic further increased their popularity while people spent a lot more time at home. Video game revenue exceeded four million pounds in the U.K. last year and popular titles like FIFA 21 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War sold millions of copies, according to MCV.
The Entertainment Retailers Association compiled preliminary data that provided insight into the U.K.’s video game revenue in 2020. The data shows that video games generated 4.2 billion pounds, which is a 14.5-percent increase from 2019. The digital game business saw the largest increase, growing by 16.3 percent in 2020.
Physical game revenue also increased by 4.6 percent, but this pales in comparison to the digital market. The COVID-19 pandemic caused many players to purchase digital version instead of picking up a physical copy from a store.
The ERA also provided information on the best-selling video games in the U.K. in 2020. FIFA 21 was the best-selling game of the year and sold over two million copies. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War sold over 1.4 million copies, while GTA V continued to perform well with over one million copies sold.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the sixth best-selling game with over 800,000 copies sold, but this doesn’t include digital sales of the game. Animal Crossing was one of the most popular games of the year and thousands of players likely purchased a digital copy.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still impacting gamers worldwide, but video game revenue will likely increase in 2021.
