Video game market hits £1.1bn high

Britons are buying more video games than ever, a report revealed yesterday.

We have bought more than 280million copies since 1995, which works out at 11 titles for every household in the country.

More than 25million consoles or handheld gaming devices were sold during the same period.

The market for games has grown by 100 per cent in the past six years and was worth a record £1.1billion in 2003.

By comparison, cinema takings rose by just 30 per cent and music sales dropped 4.5 per cent.

Roger Bennett, head of games trade body ELSPA, said gaming was now a mainstream activity which was bigger then the box office.

'The future of entertainment is games,' he added. 'It is no longer a kids'market. The average PS2 player is in their 20s and more and more women are getting into games.' The boom in the market is partly due to the relatively high cost of top games, which can rake in £40million each.

Top titles such as Grand Theft Auto cost about £40 when new and sell about 1million copies.

The top-selling music album of 2003, Dido's Life For Rent, sold 1.2million copies but raked in just £14million, the study by business analysts Screen Digest found.