UK gaming market worth record £5.7bn

Getty Images Fortnite on mobile and consoleGetty Images

The UK gaming market is now worth a record £5.7bn - in part thanks to titles like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and Fortnite.

The two online-only games, released in 2018, helped push revenues for gaming software to a record £2bn - according to Ukie, the trade body for UK gaming which compiles the figures.

Consoles continue to sell well despite no new systems being released in 2018.

But virtual reality has had a tougher time - with sales down 20% since 2017.

It's due to early adopters of virtual reality awaiting the next generation of VR headsets, says Ukie (short for the Association of Interactive Entertainment).

Graphic: Breakdown of games industry by market value of each sector
Game pie: Scroll down to see how the biggest slice - software - breaks down

A bad year for VR didn't affect the gaming hardware market too much though - it still saw growth of more than 10%.

The success of gaming isn't that surprising, given gaming is now worth more than movies and music combined.

A report in January said gaming was worth £3.86bn ($4.85bn) - but those figures didn't include mobile and free games.

Allow Google YouTube content?

This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

'Record growth'

Movies like Tomb Raider and Rampage, that were both released in 2018, lifted revenues for game-related films to more than £23m - up by 34%.

Money made from areas including toys, merchandise and books - a wider category which Ukie calls "game culture" - was down.

The closure of Toys-R-Us is said to have had a "significant" impact on sales.

Getty Images Fortnite toysGetty Images
Fortnite might be an online-only game, but you can still get real-life Fortnite toys

But the big picture is "another year of record growth" for the gaming industry, according to Ukie CEO Dr Jo Twist.

Graphic: Breakdown of software market value

"The UK games industry is a cornerstone of the country's cultural landscape and continues to work hard to create new, innovative and exciting content that consumers want to experience, and that helps to drive the industry forward year-on-year," she said.

Presentational grey line

What's gone wrong with VR?

Analysis by Steffan Powell, Radio 1 Newsbeat gaming reporter

VR was thought of by many as the next big thing in gaming - and some still think it is.

There are a few really fun experiences to have with VR games (Tetris Effect and Start Trek Bridge Crew for example) but a lack of truly "must-have" games is holding the medium back.

Mario, Tomb Raider and Halo made players buy certain consoles - VR is still waiting for the experience that's going to drive people to buy a headset.

The next iteration of the devices will make them cheaper and more accessible - but without the right software, the VR gaming revolution is still on the starting blocks.

Presentational grey line

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.