There has been a huge shift in consumer attitude towards the entertainment market, according to the latest reports from Verdict Research.
In the 12 months to the end of 2008 Verdict predicts that the buoyant video games market will have grown by £1.37 billion – at a time when the combined music & video sectors have stagnated, with growth of just £0.03 billion between them.
This will see the video game retail market overtake music & video, to become the largest entertainment sector in the UK.
Published in July, Magna’s estimates for US emerging media advertising in 2009 predicted that gaming would grow 27.4% to $296 million, with the bulk of dollars coming from tonnage of online consumption Search is forecast to grow 24% to %13.8 billion, while social media is predicted to be up 37.4$ to $1.5 billion, benefiting from improved monetisation. The fastest growing emerging media platform will be online video, which will grow 45% to $805 million. Gaming will grow 27.4% to $296 million, with the bulk of dollars coming from tonnage of online consumption.
“The music & video market is not just suffering from a slowing of growth but a massive transfer of spend to online,” said Malcolm Pinkerton, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research. “So in actual fact the sales via high street shops are being hit a lot harder than the overall growth figures would suggest.”
One surprising aspect of the games market over the past year is that the more severe the economic downturn has become, the better the gaming market has performed. “Games represent a relatively cheap, but also exciting and innovative, pastime,” added Piner.
| Entertainment markets size 2002-2007 |
| |
Total Music & Video Spending, £m |
Y-o-Y Growth % |
Total Video Games Spending £m |
Y-o-Y Growth % |
| 2003 |
4,426 |
8.6 |
2,179 |
2.1 |
| 2004 |
4,692 |
6 |
2,113 |
-3 |
| 2005 |
4,456 |
-5 |
2,284 |
8.1 |
| 2006 |
4,415 |
-0.9 |
2,545 |
11.4 |
| 2007 |
4,434 |
0.4 |
3,270 |
28.5 |
| 2008 |
4,461 |
0.6 |
4,643 |
42 |
| Source: Verdict Research |
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