The UK software market continues to thrive and grow – that’s the message from ELSPA, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, as it today reveals how the industry performed throughout 2004.

Sales of entertainment and leisure software across all formats totalled £1.34 billion – an increase of 6.6 per cent over 2003’s record figures.

Roger Bennett, director general of ELSPA, said: “The video games industry is one of the most dynamic in UK, as evidenced by the continuing rise in product sales during 2004. In a year with no new generation consoles being released, the market continued to be buoyant as the industry matured and the increasingly diverse range of games reached new audiences and broadened its player base – across ages and gender.”

The last quarter of the year was a particularly strong selling period with GTA: San Andreas notching up one million units in just nine days, making it the fastest selling video game of all time. By the end of the year, GTA: San Andreas topped the 1.75 million mark. A record five titles achieved double platinum status (600,000 units) in the last 10 weeks of the year, including Sony’s EyeToy Play and EA’s Need for Speed: Underground 2, which was the Christmas Number One at final odds of 6/4 (source: Ladbrokes).

Xbox games showed the most significant growth, with sales on the format rising 37.9 per cent. However, it was PlayStation 2 that ruled the roost once again, increasing by 13 per cent on the previous year and taking £640 million through tills.

For a second year, Electronic Arts contributed substantially to the ongoing growth cycle, with nine titles in the top 20 alone, although Take2/Rockstar’s GTA: San Andreas was the clear winner. The top 40 product which reached a total of 15 million units sales featured eight sports titles and ten titles based on film and TV franchises. It is worth noting that The Simpsons: Hit and Run (Vivendi Universal Games) improved its performance in 2004. The previous year it was placed at number nine and 2004 saw it rise to number four overall.

1 GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS TAKE 2
2 FIFA 2005 ELECTRONIC ARTS
3 NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERGROUND 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
4 THE SIMPSONS: HIT & RUN VIVENDI UNIVERSAL GAMES
5 PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 4 KONAMI
6 SONIC HEROES SEGA UK
7 SPIDER-MAN 2 ACTIVISION
8 NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERGROUND ELECTRONIC ARTS
9 HALO 2 MICROSOFT
10 DRIV3R ATARI
11 THE INCREDIBLES THQ
12 THE SIMS 2 ELECTRONIC ARTS
13 BURNOUT 3: TAKEDOWN ELECTRONIC ARTS
14 FIFA 2004 ELECTRONIC ARTS
15 CALL OF DUTY: FINEST HOUR ACTIVISION
16 HARRY POTTER - PRISONER OF AZKABAN ELECTRONIC ARTS
17 THE SIMS: BUSTIN' OUT ELECTRONIC ARTS
18 SHREK 2 ACTIVISION
19 TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: PANDORA UBISOFT
20 LORD OF THE RINGS - RETURN OF THE KING ELECTRONIC ARTS

Official UK Leisure Software Charts (c) ELSPA compiled by Chart-Track.

Bennett continued: “2004 was a stellar year in many respects with the launch of the first ever live consumer show which saw literally thousands of people flocking to London to get their hands on the latest games, and the amazing performance of GTA: San Andreas which broke all records.”

http://www.elspa.com