UK Interactive Entertainment, or UKIE, has revealed at the Games Industry Market Valuation Event this morning that the UK games market was worth a record-breaking £4.33 billion last year, an increase of 1.2% from 2015.
This positive growth applied to digital console and PC games sales, which also saw an 11.1% increase, with a 16.9% increase in mobile games revenue too, now being worth £995 million. Software sales also in the UK also exceeded £3 billion for the first time.
VR headsets were also included in the market valuation for the first time as well, adding £61.3 million to the growth of the sector, as well as the growth in sales for top-end graphics cards, impacting the increase of 64% in PC game hardware, rising to £258 million.
Consoles themselves, however, have expereinced an "expected reduction in sales," down to £507.5 million, this fact being blamed on the maturing of the current generation of consoles.
UK gaming events have seen a strong increase, however, with an increase of 20.6% from 2015, driven by the growth of esports and consumer events. Game-related toys and merchandise didn't see quite the same growth, but sales still increased 7.2% to £66.8 million, books and magazines also increasing 13% to £18.4 million.
Dr Jo Twist OBE, CEO of UKIE, said: "Our sector is constantly innovating and investing in new experiences, technologies and talent, resulting in the strong and resilient games industry shown in this £4.33bn market valuation. It has been an excellent year for the industry, including the release of first commercially available VR headsets, an exciting year for our national esports scene, and the explosion of the UK mobile market, which is now worth nearly £1bn alone."
"These statistics will go a long way to reinforcing the message that the UK continues to be a world leading games market, remaining strong in the face of an uncertain political climate. Ukie will continue to use these stats to promote the strength of our sector nationally and worldwide to investors, the media, policy makers and more, to prove that the UK is the best place to make and sell games."
"The next year will be a big year of change, but we look forward to seeing the market remain resilient and robust and a leading creative economy in the UK."
Will the figures for consoles be dramatically different from 2017, given the release of the Switch and Scorpio?