The close of a console generation has once again inspired a drop of physical video game sales in the UK, with a 21.7% drop in revenue year-on-year. In terms of numbers, that represents 17.6 million boxed games sold in 2019, nearly 20% less than in 2018. All told the physical market generated £602.5 million, according to GfK (and via Games Industry).
If you were to include digital sales, IHS estimates pull the overall drop to 3.4%. According to data collected together by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), digital sales growth slowed to just 1.1%, bringing in an estimated £3.17 billion (for a £3.77 billion combined total).
As the GI.biz report points out, the last drop we saw like this was back in 2012, the year before we got the PS4 and Xbox One. Given the planned launch of PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2020, it seems like history has once again repeated itself.
When it comes to games sold, FIFA still rules the roost here in the UK, with 1.5 million copies sold. That was actually 400K less than FIFA 19 managed in the same period of time, however. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, on the other hand, outsold Black Ops 4 (in less time as well), so it's not all doom and gloom for the big hitters. Here's the GfK top ten retail chart for 2019:
1. FIFA 20 / 1,502,191
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare / 1,192,211
3. Mario Kart 8: Deluxe / 465,062
4. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order / 438,465
5. Red Dead Redemption 2 / 306,392
6. FIFA 19 / 278,417
7. Pokémon Sword / 273,991
8. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled / 267,285
9. Grand Theft Auto V / 247,357
10. The Division 2 / 237,226