UK games industry booms
Well, except for Eidos (see below)
While Eidos may have announced disastrous results today, the UK games market in general is actually booming. A new report from ELSPA today confirmed what we had all suspected already, with games sales said to be up 24% by volume and over 5% by value in the first three months of 2001 compared to the same period last year. This good news comes despite the bungled PlayStation 2 launch, the demise of the Dreamcast, a growth in budget releases on older systems, and heavy discounting at retail which has led to high street stores slashing each others wrists and then whinging to publishers about poor margins.
In fact console games have been doing particularly well, with sales picking up 37% by volume and 12% by value. And with the PlayStation 2 looking forward to killer apps like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Gran Tourismo 3 being released later this year, the GameBoy Advance expected to do roaring business on June 22nd, and the Xbox and GameCube both set for release in Europe next spring, things are looking great for the next couple of years at least.