TV/Films Beat Gaming As Biggest Entertainment Industry In 2023

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Ending Gaming's 11 Year Streak!

Story Highlights
  • The film and TV industry beat gaming revenue after 11 years in the UK. 
  • Gaming saw an increase of 2.9% in revenue compared to video-based media’s 10%.
  • The higher revenue was largely due to subscription services. 

The gaming industry has been the biggest entertainment market in the world for as long as one can remember, with games like GTA 5 hitting more than $700 million in revenue in 12 months, showing how big the industry is.

However, a new report has revealed that film and TV have finally overtaken gaming as the biggest entertainment market in the UK. 

Why it matters: For the past 11 years, the gaming market kept its throne as the bigger industry among the two, but the empire has now been toppled. And there are a few major reasons for that.

Gaming platforms

ERA is the UK trade body that represents all three of these industries. According to their numbers, gaming held a revenue of £4.74 billion in 2023, while video-based entertainment topped that with £4.9 billion.

Gaming saw an increase of 2.9% over the last year, while film and TV grew a massive 10% in revenue. The video-based industry was mainly driven by subscriptions like Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, and others.

The music industry also saw its best year since 2001. It saw a massive increase of 9.6% in revenue and ended the year with £2.2 billion in 2023.

Popular Streaming Platforms

2012 was the last year video-based media managed to take the lead over gaming; come 2023, it has happened again after 11 years. This is largely because the gaming industry hasn’t seen the best of the years in 2023.

While various titles were released in 2023, developers and studios had to suffer in the process. 2023 marked one of the worst years as many studios made a number of layoffs, struggling to deal with the risks of this industry.

Still, the industry grew in revenue. Ultimately, gaming prevailed despite its shortcomings from 2023, highlighting hope for a brighter future in 2024 and beyond.

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