UK physical game sales dropped by 35% in 2024 in shift towards digital

Physical game sales in the UK dropped by a massive 34.5 percent over the past year.

Digital game sales also dropped, though only by one percent, while subscription services grew by 12 percent. It’s indicative of a shift across the entire entertainment industry towards digital services.

Total games revenue for 2024 dropped by 4.4 percent to £4.6bn – compared to other media, that’s behind video (£5bn) but double music (£2.4bn).

The news comes courtesy of the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA), based on data from Nielsen/GfK, India, and GSD.

Year-on-year, PC downloads dropped by five percent, digital console sales were down 15 percent, and physical games sales plummeted by 35 percent. Mobile and tablet gaming grew by 2.6 percent.

Perhaps one reason for this is the comparison with 2023, which saw huge physical sales of Hogwarts Legacy.

2024’s biggest selling game in the UK was, unsurprisingly, EA Sports FC 25. It generated 2.9m sales, 80 percent of which were digital.

“After the breakneck growth of recent years, it is no surprise that the games market has slowed down, but it remains a giant,” said ERA’s CEO Kim Bayley. “Despite the attractions of digital business models to developers, we believe physical still has a role to play.”

Despite year-on-year decline between 2023-2024, 2025 is predicted to bring growth to the industry, due to the expected release of Nintendo’s Switch 2 console and Rockstar’s GTA 6.

For more on 2025, check out Eurogamer’s most anticipated games of this year.