<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association) has been publishing data on the UK music, video, and games market for 26 years. The 2025 figures are preliminary; the final numbers will be released later (usually in March).<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Combined revenue across all three segments (music, video, games) reached \u00a313.26 billion (+7.1% YoY), an all-time record.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The entertainment economy is growing 4x faster than the UK economy as a whole (GDP forecast for 2025: +1.5%).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Over the past 10 years, the entertainment market has grown by 120%, while the UK economy has grown by just 12% over the same period.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Games are outpacing average UK economic growth over the last decade by 7x, music by 10x, and video by just over 14x.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Gaming revenue came in at \u00a35.37 billion (+7.4% YoY). In 2025 alone, the market grew more than it did over the previous four years combined (2021-2024: +6.7%).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The main growth driver was mobile and tablet games, which reached \u00a31.88 billion (+8.8% YoY).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Digital downloads of console games showed strong growth, reaching \u00a3857.6 million (+11.5% YoY).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Physical console game sales dipped to \u00a3318.9 million (-1% YoY).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Games remain the last entertainment segment where the ownership model still beats the access model: 45% of revenue comes from purchases rather than subscriptions. For comparison, that figure is 16.6% in music and 7.2% in video.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The best-selling game of the year was EA Sports FC 26, with over 1.97 million copies sold (digital + physical).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Video was the largest revenue segment for the second year in a row, bringing in \u00a35.44 billion (+8% YoY).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Streaming services (Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and others) generated \u00a34.9 billion (+8.8% YoY).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Digital sales of films and TV shows grew 7.4% to \u00a3202 million.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Physical media sales (DVD and Blu-ray) continued to decline, but the pace slowed to -4.7% YoY, the slowest drop since 2010. Blu-ray has overtaken DVD by revenue (hard to believe I\u2019m writing this in 2026): \u00a384.2 million vs. \u00a364.7 million.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n The best-selling film of the year was Wicked (983,000 copies), comfortably ahead of last year\u2019s leader, Deadpool & Wolverine (562,000 copies).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Transform your online store into an LTV powerhouse with Xsolla\u2019s LiveOps tools – run dynamic, segmented campaigns to drive an 80% repeat purchase rate, and boost player retention by 15%+ using in-game synchronized offers and loyalty shops.<\/em><\/p>\n Time-limited promos, login bonuses, and referral programs can lift player engagement and help grow ARPPU by 20%+, all through an intuitive interface built for fast campaign launches, deep personalization, and maximum revenue impact.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/$s_!UJG1!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbfbb73b6-8e36-4caf-ace5-90a78298cbaf_4000x2667.jpeg\")
<\/picture><\/div>\n\n
\n
<\/picture><\/div>\n\n
A word from our sponsor<\/h6>\n
<\/picture><\/div>\n