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Sales of boxed games have climbed for the first time since December 2008, thanks to the unparalleled success of Grand Theft Auto 5.
Rockstar's crime opus, which in the UK was snapped up by more than 2.6 million people in two weeks, accounted for half of all boxed games sold in September.
According to MCV data, GTA V has already generated £90 million in UK sales, and with the release of other key titles such as FIFA 14, retailers have made more than £180 million in total for the month.
That figure is a 45 per cent year-on-year increase, and the first time the games retail sector recorded an increase in spending since December 2008. Since that industry peak, year-on-year sales have gradually declined for an unprecedented 59 months.
New consoles are expected to drive gradual market growth back in the UK. However, the increasing popularity of digital content means that more and more business is not being recorded by retail monitors.
A similar outcome is expected for the US.
In September, PlayStation America boss Jack Tretton was asked for his views on the US games retail sector contracting for fifteen consecutive months.
"We're talking about the seventh year of a console and I guess if you used a TV analogy, you might say, boy, the re-runs of a show we released seven years ago aren't doing as well as before," he replied.
"The new machine, and the new console war is going to reinvigorate the industry," he added.
Rockstar's crime opus, which in the UK was snapped up by more than 2.6 million people in two weeks, accounted for half of all boxed games sold in September.
According to MCV data, GTA V has already generated £90 million in UK sales, and with the release of other key titles such as FIFA 14, retailers have made more than £180 million in total for the month.That figure is a 45 per cent year-on-year increase, and the first time the games retail sector recorded an increase in spending since December 2008. Since that industry peak, year-on-year sales have gradually declined for an unprecedented 59 months.
New consoles are expected to drive gradual market growth back in the UK. However, the increasing popularity of digital content means that more and more business is not being recorded by retail monitors.
A similar outcome is expected for the US.
In September, PlayStation America boss Jack Tretton was asked for his views on the US games retail sector contracting for fifteen consecutive months.
"We're talking about the seventh year of a console and I guess if you used a TV analogy, you might say, boy, the re-runs of a show we released seven years ago aren't doing as well as before," he replied.
"The new machine, and the new console war is going to reinvigorate the industry," he added.
News: GTA V pulls UK out of four-year sales decline - ComputerAndVideoGames.com
UK games market returns to growth in September | Games industry news | MCV
Normally I wouldn't be cheering on the likes of GAME or HMV, but it is good news nonetheless. Especially if you consider the "Mom and Pop" stores that rely on boxed game sales (new or used) to stay afloat. What is frustrating is that the UK needs studios like Rockstar to stay in the UK, but refusal to give the Games Industry the tax incentive that the Canadians and Americans give, means that a lot of jumping ship across the pond. Creative Assembly looks like it is going to be the next one to jump ship.
One of the annoying things in the UK is that digital sales are largely ignored because of how backwards the retail industry is over here. It took until the mid 00's for Digital Downloads to be counted for music industry so a lot of the times, sales on things like Steam, Origin, GOG, PSN, XBL or eStore often aren't counted unless it is purely digital only. It also means the likes of GAME and HMV use "poor sales" as an excuse to generally behave in the toxic manner that they do.
Still, game sales being up in the UK is great for the industry regardless and hopefully sales should be up across the pond as well. That said someone really needs to tell Jack Tretton to shut the fuck up, and that gamers want GAMES. The Core Gamer and the Casual don't give a flying fuck about the platform or what your machine does, as long as the games are good. Your Casual doesn't care about all the the technical details as long as they can play FIFA or GTA. Your Core Gamer doesn't care how big a nerdgasm your tech porn caused as long as the games aimed at Core Gamers are actually you know... Good.
