UK games market size
The UK games market reached £8.7 billion in 2025, driven by digital software sales and console hardware, according to industry reporting. The figure was published as part of the UKIE market summary for last year (gamesindustry.biz).
British consumers spent £8.7 billion on games in 2025, according to the trade body Ukie’s annual market valuation. (gamesindustry.biz) That total was up from £7.6 billion in 2024, when Ukie said the market had more than doubled from £3.5 billion in 2013. (gamesindustry.biz) (pocketgamer.biz) Software was the biggest piece of the 2025 market at £6.03 billion, up 7% year on year, and digital console game sales rose 9.2% to £2.2 billion. Ukie’s data, as reported by GamesIndustry.biz, said console hardware also grew after Nintendo launched Switch 2 in June 2025. (gamesindustry.biz) (omdia.tech.informa.com) A separate January 2026 tally from the Entertainment Retailers Association put UK video game revenue at £5.4 billion for 2025, not £8.7 billion. The gap comes from scope: the Entertainment Retailers Association tracks games revenue using retail and software datasets, while Ukie’s consumer valuation includes a wider mix of hardware, software, services and related spending. (gamesindustry.biz) (ukiepedia.ukie.org.uk) The split matters because both figures are being used in 2026 to describe the same market. The narrower Entertainment Retailers Association measure showed 7.4% growth, while Ukie’s broader measure added more than £1 billion to the headline by counting categories beyond core game sales. (gamesindustry.biz 1) (gamesindustry.biz 2) The 2025 rebound also followed a softer 2024 for parts of the market. Ukie said hardware sales fell just over 5% in 2024, with console sales down 24% as the installed base aged and Nintendo Switch demand cooled before its successor arrived. (pocketgamer.biz) The Entertainment Retailers Association said mobile was the biggest driver inside its 2025 dataset, with mobile game revenue up 8.8% to £1.88 billion and digital sales reaching £5 billion. Physical boxed game sales fell 1% to £318.8 million and made up 5% of that market. (gamesindustry.biz) Ukie has paired the market numbers with a policy push. In its 2025 review, the group said government support could unlock £500 million in extra revenue and create 6,000 jobs, framing consumer spending growth as evidence that games remain a large British entertainment business. (ukie.org.uk) (pocketgamer.biz) The immediate takeaway is simple: the UK games business grew in 2025, but the headline depends on what is being counted. In April 2026, the number getting attention is Ukie’s broader £8.7 billion measure. (gamesindustry.biz)
