UK Market
According to the report published by the digital association ERA, Steam is the most popular store for online purchases in the United Kingdom. In second place we find the PlayStation Store of PS5 and PS4 with a slight gap. However, the most used device for video games is the smartphone.As we can see from the graphs below, in the UK 30.3% of gamers play on smartphones, against 24% who prefer a PC / laptop, 20.8% a home console and 9.1% a portable one. In last place Google Stadia which represents 0.8% of the total.
As for online purchases, 40.1% of respondents buy on Steam, 36.8% on PlayStation Store, the 24.3% on the Xbox Store and only 12.5% on the Nintendo eShop. Equal to Amazon, while Origin represents only 6.6% of the preferences.
Still from the ERA data we learn that 29.5% of the interviewees prefer to play free-to-play titles on mobile, but only 5.8% spend on microtransactions. Streaming gaming, on the other hand, has not yet been very successful, given that it is used only by 2.1% of the interviewees.
ERA's English videogame market data Staying on the subject, Elden Ring represents the new IP of most successful ever in the UK since the days of the first Destiny.
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UK investors pull £642m out of retail funds amid market uncertainty
Investors are closely monitoring Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as global financial and commodity markets wobble. Photo: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
Market uncertainty over the escalating Ukraine conflict and concerns over soaring inflation saw UK investors pull millions of pounds out of investment funds in January.
Figures published by the Investment Association (IA) shows UK savers withdrew £642m ($585m) out of retail funds, the highest level since March 2020.
This is compared with inflows of £2.3bn in December, and £3.3bn invested in January last year.
Chris Cummings, CEO of the IA, said soaring inflation and market uncertainty 'cast a shadow' over the start of the year in the fund market.
'Caution saw investors opt for diversified funds to help mitigate risks, and the strong sales to short term money market funds showed savers are waiting to see how markets will develop,' he said.
Equity funds were the hardest hit, with outflows of £1.3bn, driven mostly by £1.6bn redeemed from UK equity funds and of £719m from North American equity funds.
This was slightly offset by inflows to global funds, which continue to be the most popular among the IA’s equity sectors, although net inflows declined from £832m in December to £671m in January.
Asia funds saw £13m in outflows, while Europe saw outflows of £136m in the same period.
Money market funds were the bestselling asset class in January with an influx of £820m, which the IA said showed investors are turning to cash-like funds in anticipation of repositioning their portfolios. Most of this investment was into short-term money market funds, with net inflows rising from £557m in December to £838m in January.
Read more: Ukraine war to push up global inflation by 3%
One of the well-performing sectors was mixed-asset funds, which saw net inflows of £335m, a rise from £79m last month. Much of this was into mixed investment 40% to 86% shares funds, and withdrawals from 20% to 60% mixed share funds slowed from £458m in December to net inflows of £3m in January.
Investors also pulled money from fixed income funds, with the sector seeing net withdrawals of £76m, a decline from £153m and £528m invested in December and November 2021 respectively.
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Property funds saw £12m in outflows in January 2022, while overall retail funds under management declined from £1.6tn to £1.5tn in January this year.
Funds under management and net sales. Image: IA
Investors are also closely monitoring Moscow's invasion of Ukraine as global financial and commodity markets wobble.
'Events have moved quickly since January, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has seen a negative reaction from markets,' Cummings added. 'The crisis is deeply tragic for Ukraine’s citizens and investors have acted to show support and swiftly complied with the latest sanctions provisions.'
Read more: UK shuts out Russian companies from insurance market
Emma Wall, head of investment analysis and research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said market volatility continues to increase, and the Ukraine crisis has added to the turbulence.
'Daily market moves are concerning, but trying to transact in periods such as these invariably leads to over-trading and capitalising losses,' Wall said. 'Investors should try to look beyond these events and focus on their long-term goals.'
Wall warned that while daily market moves are worrying, 'trying to transact in periods such as these invariably leads to over-trading and capitalising losses'.
Market volatility has risen since the start of 2022, stoked by rising interest rates, and the recent crisis in Eastern Europe has added to the market turbulence as oil prices reached a 10-year high on Thursday.
Brent crude (BZ=F), the global benchmark, topped $119 per barrel before paring back slightly, and is now up more than 20% on the week. US light crude (CL=F) rose 2.6% to $113.4 a barrel.
Meanwhile, a National Institute of Economic and Social Research report warned on Wednesday that the war in Ukraine could add 3% to global inflation this year and wipe $1tn (£750bn) off the world GDP by 2023.
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