GTA V tops chart as UK spends £1.56 billion on games in first half of 2019
Games generate almost as much revenue as music and video combined
Grand Theft Auto V was the UK’s best-selling title in terms of unit sales in the first half of 2019.
Rockstar’s game sold 361,312 copies to narrowly hold off FIFA 19, which sold 360,588 copies, according to data released on Thursday by the Entertainment Retailers Association.
Ubisoft said recently that The Division 2 was the best-selling game worldwide in the first half of 2019. In the UK it placed third, ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Resident Evil 2.
UK consumers spent a total of £1.56 billion on games during the first half of 2019, up 1% year-over-year, and almost as much as the combined national spend on video (£1.07 billion) and music (£673 million).
Digital game sales accounted for £1.38 billion (88%) of total game sales, up 2.4% year-over-year, while physical sales accounted for £184.9 million (12%), down 8.5% year-over-year.
Top 10 UK games in first half of 2019 (copies sold)
- Grand Theft Auto V (361,312)
- FIFA 19 (360,588)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (263,520)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 (259,931)
- Resident Evil 2 (239,495)
- Days Gone (229,182)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (175,451)
- Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (172,065)
- Anthem (165,746)
- Forza Horizon 4 (144,790)
Grand Theft Auto V has shipped over 110 million copies. It’s reportedly the highest-grossing media title of all time, having generated more than $6 billion.
