2024 is just around the corner so ice those Christmas plans for a moment – the time to get ahead of the curve is now.
We’re kicking off 2024 with our triumphant return to the UK’s capital for our flagship conference, Pocket Gamer Connects London, and this year’s show is our 10th anniversary event so it’s going to be bigger, better and more vital and engaging than ever!
Join us for the leading mobile gaming industry conference in Europe (in powered-up 10th anniversary form) on January 23rd to 24th by getting your tickets from the event site here.
And come th big day you’ll join over 2,000 games industry professionals at The Brewery in London for two days full of networking, discovery, pitching and learning from over 200 of the world’s leading authorities. Plus participate in all of our industry-leading matchmaking events that put you in touch with dream business contacts, incredible prizes and media coverage opportunities, such as our Very Big Indie Pitches, Investor Connector, Publisher SpeedMatch and much, much more.
And to get you in the mood for everything UK gaming and 2024 prospects let’s take a look at the state of play.
The UK market at a glance
The Association for U.K. Interactive Entertainment (Ukie) state in their 2023 report that the UK video game consumer market was £7.05 billion. This figure is 17% above pre pandemic levels as the ‘Covid boost’ realigned perception and demand for digital entertainment.
Software revenues have remained steady in the UK growing 0.4% to £4.57 billion, thanks in part to growth in digital PC and those all-important mobile games sales. In fact mobile app sales are up 11% year-on-year to £1.43 billion.
Incredibly the 2023 report found that through 2022, 16% of the £4.57bn game software total was spent on games developed by British game companies. And while the world is welcome at Pocket Gamer Connects London, it’s these devs and publishers that will be turning out in force!
Plus – in a first for 2023 – a new report from FTI Consulting and Ukie has put numerical value on the use and economic contribution of video game technology in sectors outside the games industry…
Highlights in this category include the support of nearly 10,000 jobs nationally, £760 million in Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”), and £380 million in labour income – activity which constitutes £250 million in government revenues. Overall output of just this spillover gaming technology came to a further £1.3 billion on top of the £7.05 billion directly attibuted to the games industry itself.
Just that ‘extra’ spillover is equivalent to the UK timber and forestry industry, the aluminium production industry or the cycling industry!
“We’re pleased to see the UK video games consumer market has maintained its growth trajectory and remains in-line with where we expected it to be in 2019,” said Ukie CEO Dr. Jo Twist OBE. “Although we may have seen a natural levelling off following increased spending during the lockdown years, it’s clear that the appetite for games and games culture in the UK is still strong.”
Looking to the future, the growth is estimated to continue! The market size is expected to increase by 6.5% and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The number of digital video games users in the UK in 2021 was 44.54 million, and it’s expected to increase to nearly 50 million within the next five years, a jump of 23.09%.
You can dive deeper into the UK market on Ukie’s official website.
And across Europe too
And it’s the same story across Europe. The video games market in Europe is projected to achieve a revenue of £25.49bn by the end of 2023. That’s up from £19.59 the year before and shows an annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2028) of 6.93%. At this trajectory the projected market volume will hit £35.63bn by 2028.
Among the various segments in the video games market, the largest is in-game advertising, which is anticipated to have a market volume of £6.71bn by end 2023.
In Europe today, an incredible 53% of the population aged 6-64 years old plays video games. 76% of video game players are 18 years or older with the upper bracket going all the way up to 64 years old and 32 being the average age of a video game player in Europe
Today’s European video games industry employs 110,000 people in Europe in 2022 across arts, programming, design, production, quality assurance, audio, and many other specialist fields.
The UK and Europe are a hotbed of video game activity with mobile leading the charge and Pocket Gamer Connects London being the premier place to meet the industry and stake your claim within it.
Book your ticket to London today!
Pocket Gamer Connects London is our biggest event of the year, and now is the perfect time to book your ticket to join us this January.
