UK gamers spend £1.5bn on titles

UK gamers have spent a record-breaking £1.52bn on titles in 2007, up 25% on last year and with two weeks of sales yet to be counted.

Sales of video games in the UK are now at an all-time high, with more than 78 million titles sold, buoyed by new hardware and the success of the Wii.

Last week more than £87.9m worth of games were sold, setting a new record.

Paul Jackson, director general of industry body Elspa, said games were now "truly mass market".

"Videogaming is enjoyed by everyone, young and old, male and female," he said.

The games industry has been enjoying critical and commercial success in recent months, with a plethora of titles heralding what has been described as a "golden age" for the industry.

Games like Super Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 have won numerous awards and received praise from reviewers and gamers alike.

More than 11 million consoles were sold in the third quarter of the year, up 33% on last year as consumers flock to new machines, like the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Games on consoles now account for 79% of all software sales.


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