To mark the start of the London Games Festival, the British trade association UKIE has released market data on the UK games market in 2025, which has seen growth across almost all segments. According to UKIE, the UK games industry employs 74,000 people and contributes over £6 billion to the GDP.
The data from the UK industry association had been eagerly awaited. As has been the case in previous years, initial figures for the UK games market in 2025 had already been released by the retail association ERA, which publishes a brief summary of developments in the film, music and games markets as early as January. As the ERA works with different market researchers to UKIE, the overall figures differ, but the trend is generally similar. And this time, it is actually exactly the same.
Just as the ERA reported in January, the figures now published by UKIE also show a 7.4 per cent increase compared to the previous year. According to UKIE, British consumers spent a total of £8.76 billion on games, consoles and gaming-related products in 2025. Converted at today’s (13 April) exchange rate, that amounts to €10.05 billion. The UK thus remains clearly ahead of Germany, for which game recently reported a 4% increase to €9.38 billion. France comes in third place in Europe with €5.8 billion in revenue.
A closer look at the UK data reveals that almost all segments have grown. The trend in the console market is also noteworthy when compared with other regions. Revenue from digital content on consoles rose by 9.2% to £2.49 billion, or around €2.86 billion. This figure is even higher than revenue from mobile games. The boxed market in the UK held up well year-on-year, with a decline of just 1%, but remains at a very low level at £319 million (€366.3 million).
The hardware business also performed well overall. Revenue from consoles rose by 12% to £811 million, or around €930 million. However, the two segments – console accessories and VR – are among the few sub-markets in the UK games industry to have seen a decline in revenue. Sales of console accessories fell by 9% to £420 million (€482 million), whilst those of VR devices fell by 26% to €151 million (€172 million).
“Even against a backdrop of rising costs and squeezed household budgets, British consumers spent more on games in 2025 than ever before which is a remarkable vote of confidence in the medium. The next twelve months could be genuinely defining for the UK games industry, with studios across every region of the country developing titles that will reach millions of players,” says Nick Poole, CEO of Ukie.
Finally, it is also interesting to note the trend in a segment reported exclusively by UKIE: the ‘Game Culture’ sector. Here, the association includes revenue from merchandise, as well as soundtracks and books, film and TV licences, game streaming content and events. Overall, revenue in this sector rose by 42% to £566 million, or around €649.6 million. More than half of this comes from the toys and merchandising business.
