2023 will be here before you know it, and the time to get ahead of the curve is now.
We’re kicking off the year with our grand return to the UK’s capital for our flagship conference, Pocket Gamer Connects London, and you won’t want to miss joining us for this next iteration of the leading mobile gaming industry conference in Europe. From January 23rd to 24th, you will 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. This is a prime opportunity to 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.
Our London show is our longest-running and most popular, which means that if you’re looking to start the year off by connecting with new faces from all around the globe at a highly attended mobile gaming conference that can set the stage for endless new contacts and business opportunities, this is the place for you. Pocket Gamer Connects London 2023 will bring all new track themes and business content, designed to look into the future.
Now is the perfect time for you to book your ticket ahead of time and take advantage of our limited time Early Bird discount! You can currently save up to £350 if you secure your spot at the conference today, but the clock is ticking – make sure you head over to our website and secure your ticket with massive savings before time runs out!
Today, we’re taking a look at the state of the games industry in both the UK and the European market as a whole. Keep on reading to find out more about what’s going on and what the projected future of the industry looks like!
The UK market at a glance
The games industry in the UK is an established market that’s reached a record valuation of £7.16 billion in 2021, growing by 1.90% from the height of the pandemic numbers back in 2020 as reported by trade body, the Association for U.K. Interactive Entertainment (Ukie). For context, the pandemic boomed the market growth in 2020 compared to 2019, and today, it’s up 32.8% compared to 2019, mostly based on healthy hardware sales, which had a growth of 17.4% year-on-year and reached an impressive £2.66 billion. This market growth is incredible, as reaching a record high in market valuation after the height of the pandemic is no easy feat considering how many people turned to gaming while stuck indoors – the booming growth appears to be here to stay.
The only category of software sales that did not decline in the past year was mobile games, holding strong at a worth of a whopping £1.46 billion and showing immense promise for the future.
A difference between 2020 and 2021 was a drop in consumer spending on the games themselves, it decreased 6% compared with 2020 – this is attributed to the lack of games tailored to the latest technology, and there’s hope for a significant increase in games sales figures with upcoming exciting releases such as Elden Ring, Starfield and Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy. The only category of software sales that did not decline in the past year was mobile games, holding strong at a worth of a whopping £1.46 billion and showing immense promise for the future.
Ukie CEO Dr Jo Twist OBE reported that: “The U.K. consumer games market has consolidated effectively following significant growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.K. is a nation that loves its video games and we should be proud of the positive contribution this sector makes to the economy, to our culture and to wider society.”
Looking to the future, the growth is estimated to continue! The market size is expected to increase by 6.5% in 2022, 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.
The growth in the European games market
Taking a look at the European video games market as a whole, the segment is expected to reach a whopping £19.59 billion in 2022 with an expected year-on-year growth rate of 5.74%. Within the next five years, the projected market volume is expected to reach £25.9 billion and the number of users is expected to hit 345.7 million. The latest segment in the European video games market is mobile gaming, with a market volume of £12.42 billion in 2022. The sales in Europe keep growing substantially as well, with over 76.1 million video games sold in Europe in the first six months of 2022 (a 13.5% increase from the same period last year). Of these numbers, the countries with the biggest contribution to the European gaming market were Germany with almost 15.4 million games sold, the UK with 14.3 million and France with 10.2 million.
The latest segment in the European video games market is mobile gaming, with a market volume of £12.42 billion in 2022.
In Europe, 50% of the population between the ages of 6 to 64 play video games. There’s no one-size-fits-all definition of gamer in Europe, and this is a massive point of opportunity to tap into diverse demographics. 47% of European video game players are women, with 32 years old being the average age of female players.
There’s recent news about the members of Parliament voting to bolster investment in the European gaming industry, with a resolution that calls on the European Commission and Council for a larger investment in the European games industry. This is an active effort to support the Esports and gaming sectors, including developers, Esports initiatives and players themselves. They also requested the creation of a long-term plan to develop and retain gaming talent. This comes after a pre-vote in March stating the market should be recognised for its growth and innovation potential. This resolution has the potential to be a massive point of growth and expansion for the European games industry, as well as emphasising the value that Europe recognises in the industry. As noted by Parliament member Laurence Farreng, “Gaming has become a vital part of cultural life for half of Europeans. Yet, we still don’t have an European vision for the industry.”
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. There is no better place to connect with other games industry professionals and kick off your 2023 looking towards the future of the game industry and building towards your most prosperous year in business yet. Head over to our official conference page today and make the most of our limited time Early Bird offer – you can save up to a whopping £350 if you secure your spot at our show today.
