VIDEO GAMES SALES REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH IN 2002

Latest Figures for Year 2002 from The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association

Thursday 9th January 2003

ELSPA (The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) has announced today that UK sales of leisure software and hardware products reached an all time high in 2002 with values reaching £2,074m, an increase of 8% up on the previous year.

Top Sellers

The market was boosted by launches of several major smash hit games. In 2002, the highest ever number of ELSPA Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum Sales Awards were presented to publishers of games that sold more than 200k, 300k and 600k units respectively, and the first ever Diamond Million Seller Award was presented to Take 2's 'Grand Theft Auto 3', swiftly followed by 'Grand Theft Auto Vice City' which achieved 'Diamond status by reaching one million sales in just seven weeks.

Also taking the Christmas market by storm was Sony's 'The Getaway' (PS2 format). Released only in week 50 of 2002, the title surged through the charts achieving the ELSPA Platinum Sales Award for reaching sales of 300,000 units just two weeks later. Electronic Arts' 'Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers' and 'Fifa 2003' (both PS2 format) were also big Christmas hits; each one reached the Platinum Award level within just seven weeks of release date.

Other popular titles throughout the year included:

Gran Turismo 3, Gran Turismo 2, Pokemon Gold, Metal Gear Solid 2, Tony Hawk's Skateboarding, Championship Manager: Season 00/01, Championship Manager: Season 01/02, Medal of Honour: Frontline

New Consoles Boost the Market

The biggest growth area last year was in sales of console software boosted by the launches of the new Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube consoles. Console software sales increased by 19% compared to PC software, which was down by 5% on 2001 sales.

Roger Bennett

Commenting on these figures, Roger Bennett, Director General of ELSPA said:

"Once again the industry has seen it's most successful year ever. The leisure software market is clearly positioned as the fastest growing and most dynamic entertainment media sector globally. And 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".

Global Position

According to ELSPA's current Leisure Software Market Report, published by Screen Digest, the UK leisure software market is the third largest country market in the world, after USA and Japan. In the UK, consumers now spend more on leisure software than on renting videos or cinema visits. In terms of exports, the picture is also rosy, with the value of UK exports of leisure software products exceeding both British film and TV. The next market report, which will forecast through to 2006 is due to be published early this year.