Compared to the downturn seen in Japan, the United Kingdom's gaming market enjoyed a healthy boost in sales last year.  As tracked by Gfk Chart Track, UK's market was worth £4.03 billion ($5.97 billion USD) during 2008.  UK software sales reached £1.9 billion, a 23 percent increase, while console sales increased 14 percent to £1.4 billion.

Wii software accounted for nearly a quarter of total sales last year at 20 million units, while DS software followed somewhat with 19.1 million units sold in the UK.  Meanwhile, 14.9 million Xbox 360 games were sold during 2008, and PlayStation 3 software sales hit 10.4 million units.  With such figures, software sales for all platforms increased across the board.

The momentum seems to be in place for the UK gaming market, but Chart Track's business group director Dorian Bloch cautions that 2009's software sales may not achieve last year's level of growth.  While Bloch concurs with analysts who suggest software and hardware sales have not yet peaked, he explains that a rise in unit sales won't necessarily translate to growth in market value this year.  The one-two punch of high software sales and (relatively) high price tags seen in previous months won't last starting this year, once prices start dropping.