UKIE Unveils Work in Progress Version Of First Ever UK Digital Games Chart
6th March, 2012 - London, United Kingdom – Interactive entertainment trade body, UKIE, issues an update on its digital chart project and unveils its first chart for UK PC download in public Beta.
The UK industry has traditionally had outstanding market data covering the sale of physical video game products in the UK. These charts and reports, compiled by GfK Chart Track and published by UKIE, are invaluable tools for the industry. However, as the games industry moves to increasingly digital models of distribution, there has been a greater need to measure the size and shape of this growing digital market.
Despite considerable demand, there has never been an equivalent series of charts and reports, based on actual sales data, for those products sold in a digital format. UKIE committed to changing this and can now reveal the first output from this on-going project – the UK’s first chart for PC downloaded games. It is important to understand that the project is currently in BETA testing and is far from being the finished article.
The January 2012 UK PC Full Game Download Chart can be found here: http://ukie.org.uk/content/uk-pc-download-chart-full-game-january-2012.
The chart has been created by the UKIE digital group – a gathering of key representatives from 25 organisations proactively engaged in the selling and distribution of digital video game products. Any organisation can join this group, UKIE member or not, to participate in producing the chart and to get access to this new source of market intelligence.
The 25 companies in the group include the majority of the leading players in this sector and their equivalent market share in the boxed PC market is 80%. Of these companies ten have provided sales reports on their PC digital sales for the Beta version of the chart that is being published today. The market share represented in the Beta version of the PC Download chart is believed to be around 40% of the overall digital PC market.
UKIE CEO, Jo Twist, commented “We are delighted to reveal the UK’s first digital chart based on real sales data. This is a watershed moment for our industry, but it is only the first step in capturing the full digital market. There is still a lot of work to be done, and we need more data, but we felt that the market would benefit from seeing that this project is very much on course.”
Those organisations that have contributed to this first ever Digital Chart are now benefiting from a first detailed look at the size and shape of the digital games market. UKIE is compiling reports on the detailed sales data it receives and is providing these to the organisations who contribute data. For the first time companies will be able to evaluate sales performance, undertake benchmarking and assess promotional campaigns with information beyond that of their own products.
Sam Collins, Commercial Manager at UKIE added “The members of the UKIE digital group have invested considerable time and effort into this project and I am very happy that their support is now being rewarded. The big challenges now are to bring more companies in to the project to make it truly representative of the market and to expand the platforms covered. In order to do this we need to work with more companies. The door is open please come and talk to UKIE about how to get involved”.
Contacts: For all press enquiries, please contact the UKIE press office on T: +44 (0)20 7534 0582 or E: press@ukie.org.uk
About UKIE
The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment or UKIE is a trade body that represents the whole of the UK’s video games and wider interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 1989 (and formerly known as ELSPA), UKIE’s membership includes games publishers, developers and the academic institutions that support the industry.
UKIE works with government to champion a range of issues including age ratings, education and skills, tax incentives and protecting intellectual property rights. It also works with the media to ensure true and accurate representation of the sector by raising awareness of the industry’s positive economic contribution and the societal benefits of gaming to policy makers, regulators and consumers.
One of UKIE’s key roles is to support its members by providing them with key market information, promoting careers and offering the business support services, training and best-practice knowledge to enable them to operate most effectively.
In addition, UKIE works with GfK Chart-Track to compile weekly, monthly and annual retail charts and sales reports for the UK market.
Despite considerable demand, there has never been an equivalent series of charts and reports, based on actual sales data, for those products sold in a digital format. UKIE committed to changing this and can now reveal the first output from this on-going project – the UK’s first chart for PC downloaded games. It is important to understand that the project is currently in BETA testing and is far from being the finished article.
The January 2012 UK PC Full Game Download Chart can be found here: http://ukie.org.uk/content/uk-pc-download-chart-full-game-january-2012.
The chart has been created by the UKIE digital group – a gathering of key representatives from 25 organisations proactively engaged in the selling and distribution of digital video game products. Any organisation can join this group, UKIE member or not, to participate in producing the chart and to get access to this new source of market intelligence.
The 25 companies in the group include the majority of the leading players in this sector and their equivalent market share in the boxed PC market is 80%. Of these companies ten have provided sales reports on their PC digital sales for the Beta version of the chart that is being published today. The market share represented in the Beta version of the PC Download chart is believed to be around 40% of the overall digital PC market.
UKIE CEO, Jo Twist, commented “We are delighted to reveal the UK’s first digital chart based on real sales data. This is a watershed moment for our industry, but it is only the first step in capturing the full digital market. There is still a lot of work to be done, and we need more data, but we felt that the market would benefit from seeing that this project is very much on course.”
Those organisations that have contributed to this first ever Digital Chart are now benefiting from a first detailed look at the size and shape of the digital games market. UKIE is compiling reports on the detailed sales data it receives and is providing these to the organisations who contribute data. For the first time companies will be able to evaluate sales performance, undertake benchmarking and assess promotional campaigns with information beyond that of their own products.
Sam Collins, Commercial Manager at UKIE added “The members of the UKIE digital group have invested considerable time and effort into this project and I am very happy that their support is now being rewarded. The big challenges now are to bring more companies in to the project to make it truly representative of the market and to expand the platforms covered. In order to do this we need to work with more companies. The door is open please come and talk to UKIE about how to get involved”.
Contacts: For all press enquiries, please contact the UKIE press office on T: +44 (0)20 7534 0582 or E: press@ukie.org.uk
About UKIE
The Association for United Kingdom Interactive Entertainment or UKIE is a trade body that represents the whole of the UK’s video games and wider interactive entertainment industry. Founded in 1989 (and formerly known as ELSPA), UKIE’s membership includes games publishers, developers and the academic institutions that support the industry.
UKIE works with government to champion a range of issues including age ratings, education and skills, tax incentives and protecting intellectual property rights. It also works with the media to ensure true and accurate representation of the sector by raising awareness of the industry’s positive economic contribution and the societal benefits of gaming to policy makers, regulators and consumers.
One of UKIE’s key roles is to support its members by providing them with key market information, promoting careers and offering the business support services, training and best-practice knowledge to enable them to operate most effectively.
In addition, UKIE works with GfK Chart-Track to compile weekly, monthly and annual retail charts and sales reports for the UK market.
Companies:
UKIE
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