2004 UK Sales Increase By 6.6%

Officials from ELSPA (Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association) have revealed that the total sales of entertainment and leisure software in the United Kingdom in 2004 reached a total of £1.34 billion ($2.5 billion) – an increase of 6.6 percent on 2003’s figures. During the year, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas broke records as the fastest selling video game of all time in the UK, with 1 million units sold in nine days, for a total of 1.75 million by the end of 2004. A record five titles achieved double platinum status (600,000 units) in the last ten weeks of the year, including Sony’s EyeToy: Play and Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed: Underground 2. During 2004, Xbox games showed the greatest amount of growth, with sales on the format rising by 37.9 percent. The PlayStation brand continued to dominate, though, with a 13 percent increase to a total of £640 million ($1.2 billion) for the year. The top ten games for the whole year were as follows, with the high placing of titles such as Sonic Heroes, Need for Speed and DRIV3R proving yet again that, while the UK may be the biggest single market in Europe, its taste in games remains as ingenuous as ever.