All-time high for UK games market

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has today announced that 2003 was the most successful year ever for the UK's leisure software market. The value of leisure software products sold in the UK last year amounted to no less than £1.26 billion (US$2.3 billion), representing an increase of 7.1 percent over 2002.

"Once again, the UK industry has seen its most successful year ever. The UK video games industry sales have been on the rise for the last 20 years. They topped the £2 billion mark for the first time in 2002, and this year, once the final figures for all hardware are compiled, will see that dynamic trend continue," said Roger Bennett, director general of ELSPA. "2003 has also provided substantial evidence of the way video games have been integrated into mainstream entertainment culture, such as the very first prime-time terrestrial TV awards show, the first official 'book' created by Ladbrokes, and the launch of a dedicated monthly gaming supplement in that British media bastion, The Sunday Times. I am confident we, as an industry, will continue to drive initiatives--Game Stars Live, European Games Network, London Interactive--that will garner new audiences from every demographic and age group."

Christmas was a particularly strong selling period in the UK with a record 15 titles achieving platinum status (300,000 units sold) in the final 10 weeks of the year. Electronic Arts' FIFA 2004 was the best-selling game of the year, and it achieved double platinum status (600,000 units sold) in the same period.

In stark contrast to today's announcement, a widely reported study by London's Financial Times recently found that no less than 23 European game developers closed their doors for the last time in 2003, up from 14 in 2002 and just 8 in 2001, including Lost Toys (Battle Engine Aquila), Silicon Dreams (Freestyle Street Soccer), and Mucky Foot (StarTopia). Ironically, the closures came during the same period that UK-developed games like Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 2 and Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto Vice City were bestsellers.

So what is going wrong? Experts are sending mixed signals. Paul Gardner, a computer lawyer at the firm Osborne Clarke, blames the way developers are paid. Currently, most UK developers are merely paid for the cost of development until the game is profitable, a lag that can lead to some very lean months. "Typically, you will have a [development] team working on a project for a publisher, and then, when it ends, another has to be found," he told the Times. "If there is a gap between projects, that means a big cash drain with a lot of developers on your payroll."

However, Eidos head Mike McGarvey says it is independent developers' small size that is doing them in. "Today its all about production management skill sets. You have to manage teams of 40 to 60 people, not just four programmers and a music guy," he said.