That's according to the Entertainment Retailers Association – citing data from NielsenIQ/GfK Entertainment, Omdia and GSD/IFSE – which indicates a 7.4% increase year-on-year. This is the largest rise that video games have seen in the UK since 2020, when revenue shot up 27.9% from 2019's figures.

The key driver behind 2025's growth was an 8.8% increase in revenue from mobile titles, which brought in £1.88 billion for the period, building on a 5.5% rise between 2023 and 2024. Mobile revenue was behind 35.5% of the total for games last year.

Meanwhile, console game downloads brought in $857.6 million for the period, an 11.5% increase year-on-year, though physical sales dipped 1% to £318.8 million. Boxed sales represent just 5% of total UK games revenue for 2025.

Digital sales brought in £5 billion in revenue, an 8% increase year-on-year. The biggest seller for the year was EA Sports FC 26, which shifted over 1.97 million units across both physical and digital formats.

ERA has called out games as being the last entertainment medium that values ownership over access to some degree; 45% of game revenue came via consumers buying games rather than subscribing. By comparison, this figure stands at 16.6% for music and 7.2% in video.

The organisation also points out that between 2016 and 2025, the UK's GDP has risen by 12%; revenue generated by games, meanwhile, has risen by 86%, 7.2 times more

“Growth in the games market slowed considerably after the incredible 27.9% gains seen in the pandemic year of 2020, but continuing innovation saw it return to form in grand style in 2025," ERA CEO Kim Bayley said.

"We have strong hopes that it will maintain this momentum into 2026.”

Overall, UK entertainment – games, music and video – hit £13.3 billion for 2025, an increase of 7.1% year-on-year.

Higher review scores on Steam can lead to stronger ad performance, particularly when developers listen to community feedback on premium titles.

That's according to new data from Gamesight's Performance Marketing Playbook, published this week, which found that reviews moving from 'Mixed' to 'Very Positive' nearly tripled conversion rates when features like bug fixes and game patches were implemented.

In the months when review scores were higher, conversion rates followed suit. The most notable spike in the conversion rate was when the game reached the 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rank in Month 10 – when a "highly-requested" feature was added in an update.

Overall, Gamesight suggests that by listening to players and improving a game based on their suggestions, campaign performance can improve leading to "benefits that could persist beyond the immediate boost." Improved perception of the game lifts commercial performance, which compounds with media spend.

eveloper and publisher CD Projekt RED (CDPR) has sold the GOG distribution platform to one of its founders for 90.7 million Polish zlotys (around $25 million/£18.6 million).

Michał Kiciński, one of the team who founded both CD Projekt RED and GOG (originally known as Good Old Games) is now the sole owner of GOG. The purchase was fully funded by external financing and Kiciński remains the second-largest individual shareholder of CDPR, holding 10% of the company's shares.

The deal includes a commitment from CDPR to continue publishing its own titles, including the Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 franchises, on the GOG platform alongside its original mission of preserving classic games. The GOG catalogue currently contains over 11,200 games according to the company's most recent public statement. The company said that users would still retain access to all games purchased, policies would not change and any donations or direct funding would continue to support the platform directly. An FAQ published alongside the announcement states that the platform is financially stable and "had a really encouraging year", in which it's seen "more enthusiasm from gamers towards our mission than ever before.

Vince Zampella, who co-created the Call of Duty series and lead some of the most influential game development studios of the modern console era, has died in a car crash in California, according to a report by NBC Los Angeles.

The executive, 55, was in a 2026 Ferrari 296 GTS which crashed on a mountain road north of Los Angeles and subsequently caught fire. Both driver and passenger died, according to the NBC report, which cited the California Highway Patrol.

Zampella was Executive Vice President at EA overseeing the Battlefield franchise along with Respawn Entertainment, the studio he founded with long-term business partner Jason West in 2010, and which had produced Titanfall, Apex Legends, Jedi Fallen Order and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.

An EA statement was provided to Kotaku: "This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts are with Vince’s family, his loved ones, and all those touched by his work, Vince’s influence on the video game industry was profound and far-reaching. A friend, colleague, leader and visionary creator, his work helped shape modern interactive entertainment and inspired millions of players and developers around the world. His legacy will continue to shape how games are made and how players connect for generations to come.

Zampelle and West founded Infinity Ward along with Grant Collier in 2002, and went on to create the phenomenally successful Call of Duty franchise for Activision. Developed by the core team behind the then market-leading Medal of Honor franchise, 2003's Call of Duty was initially a hit on PC and went on to spawn multiple sequels across all platforms. The franchise sold over 500 million copies and defined the modern first-person shooter market.

A new report claims Naughty Dog recently ordered employees to take on "mandatory" overtime as it worked to get the Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet demo finalized.

That's according to Bloomberg, which claims staff had been asked to work at least eight extra hours a week up to a maximum of 60 hours a week. This period of mandated overtime allegedly ran for the last seven weeks, ending this week.

Developers were also instructed to come into the office to work five days a week – up from three – disrupting their usual child and animal care routines, but management has reportedly told employees that this will return to three days a week for January.

"Starting in late October, staff were asked to begin working a minimum of eight extra hours a week and logging their overtime in an internal spreadsheet, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly," Bloomberg reports.

"This overtime period was an attempt to get the production back on track after several missed deadlines."

Both Sony and Naughty Dog declined to comment on the claims.

Whilst there has been a pushback on crunch in recent years, Naughty Dog's stance on mandated overtime has been under scrutiny several times, most recently in 2021 when the studio's then co-president Evan Wells responded to a question about his personal experience with crunch stating, "I have definitely personally worked very hard over the years. I think some of that has helped me get to where I am in my career."