The overall value of console and game sales in the UK grew by eight per cent year on year to some £2.074 million, with console software sales increasing by 19 per cent. The PC market, however, took a downturn, with sales down by five per cent in value on 2001 although with PC games such as Doom III around the corner, interest in the platform shouldn’t be written off just yet.
The market was dominated by Take-Two’s PS2 title Grand Theft Auto: Vice City in the last seven weeks of the year, selling an impressive 1.2 million units and becoming only the second ever game to be awarded ELSPA’s prestigious Diamond sales award. The only other title to hold this award is Grand Theft Auto 3, which only achieved the award in the previous month a full year after it went on sale.
Meanwhile, several other blockbuster hits picked up sales awards during the run up to Christmas, notably from EA, with Lord Of The Rings, Potter, Bond, FIFA 2003, and Medal Of Honor Frontline all picking up gongs, while Sony’s The Getaway managed to qualify for the 300,000 Platinum award in just two weeks.
ELSPA director general Roger Bennett offered: The leisure software market is clearly positioned as the fastest growing and most dynamic entertainment media sector globally.
This is particularly the case in the UK where gaming is now established as the first choice leisure pursuit for so many people of all ages, with the average age game player now being in their mid twenties, he added.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz
