Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Video game market in the United Kingdom - Statistics & Facts
The video gaming market in the United Kingdom (UK) is the biggest in Europe, ranking ahead of Germany and France in terms of annual revenues. The UK video gaming market has fully arrived as a mainstream entertainment option and has seemingly gone from strength to strength. However, despite high revenues and unit sales, consumers are feeling the bite of the current economic downturn in the UK, which has strongly impacted the market in 2024.
Despite gaming being one of the strongest entertainment sectors in the UK, the segment faces a tough few years ahead before the market recovers.
Driving forces of the UK gaming market
In 2025, the number of video game users in the UK amounted to 38.95 million gamers. With over 55 percent of the population embracing gaming as a form of fun, entertainment, or distraction, the UK’s video game market has come to be valued at 17.71 billion U.S. dollars in the same year, with gaming hardware accounting for the largest share of consumer spending. Additionally, in 2024, online sales accounted for approximately 98.6 percent of video game sales in the United Kingdom.What are the most popular video games in the UK?
In 2024, video game software retail sales revenue in the UK amounted to 4.6 billion British pounds, with digital software sales accounting for the lion’s share of revenue. Unsurprisingly, EA Sports FC 25 was the best-selling video game in the UK that year, with over 2.1 million copies sold in the football-obsessed country. The EA Sports FC games, previously known under the FIFA brand, usually feature at the top of the UK’s leaderboard, along with the shooter series Call of Duty. Third-ranked Hogwarts Legacy is based on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, another beloved UK media franchise, and was one of the biggest gaming hits of 2024.Hard facts about hardware trends
During the past decade, UK consumer spending on gaming console hardware visibly fluctuated in line with the rollout of new consoles. Retail revenue peaked at 1.13 billion British pounds in 2021, following the release of the next-generation Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. In 2024, annual gaming console hardware sales amounted to 723 million British pounds. That year, approximately 2 million video game consoles were sold in the United Kingdom. Overall, console hardware sales in the UK took a hit due to the cost of living crisis and other ongoing economic factors.Difficult times for the UK gaming market continue
During the current cost of living crisis in the UK, consumers will likely cut down on non-essentials and hobbies. Examples of the impact on the UK gaming market include gamers who have not upgraded their hardware to the latest version and who might skip out on such big-ticket purchases for another year, as well as gamers who will not buy the latest video games at full price on release and wait for sales instead.Despite gaming being one of the strongest entertainment sectors in the UK, the segment faces a tough few years ahead before the market recovers.
