63 million games bought in UK in 2010
Xbox 360 the UK's most lucrative console.A whopping 63 million console and PC games were bought in the UK last year - that averages at over one game per UK resident.
The UK games market was worth £2.875 billion in 2010, according to official figures from UK trade body UKIE, reported by MCV.
The Xbox 360 was the UK's most lucrative console with hardware revenues of £232 million. The PS3 followed with £229 million. The two platforms combined shifted 2.3 million units.
Xbox 360 game sales amounted to £538 million, PS3 game sales £414 million. 18.2 million Xbox 360 game units and 13.8 million PS3 game units were sold in 2010. In total console software sales hit £1.45 billion.
UKIE did not release sales data for Nintendo products. It did note, however, that only the PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles saw growth.
"Despite 2010 being a tough year for the economy, the video games and interactive entertainment industry continues to perform strongly," UKIE director general Mike Rawlinson stated.
2010's £2.875 billion total is down on 2009's £3.3 billion haul. The figures relate to retail/boxed games only, and do not include digital download sales.
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