Britain's long-standing addiction to computer games reached new heights last year as the industry enjoyed its biggest ever sales boom, according to figures released yesterday.
In the face of predictions that the market in this country had peaked, devoted players spent £1.6bn on games and consoles in 2001. Driven by the success of the world-dominating PlayStation 2 console, demand for games and hardware leapt by 36% over the previous year.
The figures, released by the European Leisure Software Publishers Association, confirm the UK's status as the third largest games market in the world after the US and Japan. Britons spend more on leisure software than on renting videos or going to the cinema.
The sales boom is good news for the domestic games production scene, which has grown almost unnoticed from a cottage industry of enthusiasts into a multi-million pound global success with export revenues exceeding both the home grown film and television industries.
Roger Bennett, director general of Elspa, predicted yesterday that within five years, games exports will have overtaken those of pop music.
"The industry has been growing for 20 years and these figures show that we are now in the realms of mass market. The British seem to have a cultural attachment to computer games: they love playing them and they also produce some of the best games in the world."
Sam Richards, deputy editor of the Official PlayStation 2 Magazine, said: "The games market in other European countries is less developed in the same way that pop music is. The two are very similar, they are both cutting edge and the UK is at the forefront of both."
According to Elspa, nine games sold more than 300,000 copies each in the UK last year, including American company EA's Harry Potter game which achieved platinum status in five weeks, making it the fastest seller of the year.
British games were well represented among the top sellers. The second biggest hit of the year was Who Wants to be a Millionaire, published by Eidos, which is also responsible for the phenomenally successful Tomb Raider franchise. The latest instalment of Lara Croft's adventures was the fifth most popular game in 2001, while Grand Theft Auto 3, developed by Scottish company DMA and published by Windsor-based Take 2, ranked seventh.
Serhad Koro, Take 2's managing director, said the success of the PlayStation 2 was the crucial factor behind the market's resurgence. "When Sony cut the price of the PS2 consoles from £299 to £199 in the summer, they just started flying out the doors. All it took then was a couple of killer applications, games like Grand Theft Auto 3, which were a huge improvement on the earlier versions on older consoles."
Sales of personal computer games have remained constant, but it is the new consoles which have fuelled the boom. The popularity of PS2 -there are now 1.7m users in the UK, double that of the original PlayStation at this stage in its life cycle five years ago - made hardware sales the biggest growth area in 2001, with an increase of 121% on the previous year. On the back of this boom, there was £711m worth of games sales, an increase of 26% on 2000.
The Rock, Tarrant and Harry
WWF Smackdown by THQ Featuring more than 35 WWF wrestlers, including the Undertaker and the Rock as well as commentary, arguments and taunting
Who Wants to be a Millionaire by Eidos A 3D virtual Chris Tarrant asks the questions. Includes all the features of the TV show - except the money
The Sims by EA Games Players take charge of a neighbourhood of Sims and run every aspect of their lives, from building homes to romance
Driver 2 by Infogrames High speed driving mayhem in cities across America, including Las Vegas and Rio de Janeiro
Tomb Raider 4 by Eidos The latest in the British gaming industries biggest hit, which has brought in more foreign earnings than the Spice Girls
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 by Activision Sequel to the game inspired by the skills of the most famous skateboarding pro of all time. Features hundreds of new tricks, a graffiti mode and a hip hop/metal soundtrack
Grand Theft Auto 3 by Take 2 Full 3D version of the controversial car crime and pedestrian carnage hit. Players earn cash by taking jobs from criminal gangs, stealing cars and mugging
Gran Turismo 3 by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe The PlayStation 2 version of the driving game, featuring more than 100 car models to race
Harry Potter - The Philosopher's Stone by EA The digital version of JK Rowling's bestseller was fastest selling hit of the year.
