UK boxed games retailers sold 2.23m video games last week.
In total, the likes of GAME, Amazon and Tesco made £56.7m from the sale of software. A rise of 13 per cent week-on-week.
The numbers are disappointing for those buyers and store managers expecting a late festive rush. For the comparable seven day period last year, games retailers sold 3.5m games.
It means that the video game software market is heading for a 29 per cent decline for 2012, a huge drop that will likely have a significant impact on the High Street.
However, £56.7m in a week is still a significant figure and signifies that despite the decline, there is still a lot of money to be made from traditional retail.
Furthermore, such a severe decline is unlikely to be repeated next year. With a busy Q1 release schedule, the anticipated arrivals of GTA V and Battlefield 4 (alongside the traditional Call of Dutys and FIFAs) plus the prospect of next generation hardware, analysts and MCV expect next year to be a return to growth for the UK High Street.
Data is courtesy of UKIE/GfK Chart-Track.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/uk-re...istmas/0108706