UK Gamers Average £105 A Year On In-Game Extras

(AsiaGameHub) –   New research from Uswitch Broadband, which surveyed 2,000 UK gamers, found that the average UK gamer spends £105.27 per year on in-game purchases.

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Good to Know

• 78% of UK gamers purchased in-game extras during the past 12 months.
• The average player makes 66 in-game purchases each year.
• 86% of respondents stated they later regretted at least one of their in-game purchases.

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These figures carry extra significance due to the size of the UK gaming market. Ukie reported that UK consumers spent £8.76 billion on video games in 2025, with software spending alone hitting £6.03 billion. This larger market scale helps clarify why microtransactions, battle passes, expansions, cosmetic skins, and in-game currency now form the core of gaming revenue.

Fortnite Tops Rankings As Small Purchases Accumulate

Fortnite had the highest average annual in-game spend per player across the franchises surveyed by Uswitch Broadband, at £37.16. Call of Duty ranked second at £34.55, while the FIFA series came in at £33.55.

The ranking leans heavily toward live-service and competitive games. Roblox had an average spend of £30.80, Counter-Strike hit £28.42, League of Legends landed at £27.34, and Apex Legends came in at £27.33. By contrast, story-focused franchises saw lower average spending. Red Dead Redemption had the lowest average spend among the major surveyed titles, at £18.45, followed by The Elder Scrolls at £19.78 and Gran Turismo at £20.30.

This trend aligns with the broader industry model. Live-service games typically sell recurring content via battle passes, seasonal drops, in-game currency, and limited-time extras. Traditional single-player games often rely more on the initial purchase, expansions, or one-time downloadable content.

The most popular spending category was gameplay-enhancing content. Sixty-six percent of gamers purchased expansions and downloadable content, with an average annual spend of £13.94. In-game currency was the next most common, with 63% of players spending an average of £13.43 per year, followed by battle passes and seasonal content, which 59% of gamers paid for, averaging £12.22 annually.

Loot boxes were the lowest-ranked spending category. Half of all gamers stated they spent no money on loot boxes, with the average total spend on loot boxes sitting at £9.09. Cosmetic purchases also divided the player base, with 48% of gamers saying they never bought skins, outfits, or emotes.

Impulse buying is a major factor behind this trend. Uswitch Broadband’s research found that 26% of gamers always or frequently make in-game purchases on impulse. An additional 35% admitted they sometimes make these purchases, even when they normally pause to consider the cost first. Just 15% of gamers said they never buy in-game items on impulse.

This helps account for the high rate of purchase regret. In total, 86% of gamers reported regretting at least one in-game purchase. Of that subset, 16% said they frequently felt regret over their purchases, while 4% stated they always regretted their in-game buys.

Xbox players ranked among the highest for both purchase frequency and total spending. The average Xbox gamer made 92 in-game purchases per year and spent £142 annually, which is higher than the overall UK gamer average of £105.27. Nintendo Switch players averaged 86 purchases, PlayStation users averaged 85, PC gamers averaged 73, and mobile players averaged 62.

Gen Z gamers also spent more than the national average. Players between the ages of 18 and 28 spent an average of £121 per year, demonstrating how heavily younger audiences now engage with digital extras, live content, and recurring game promotions.

Experts at Uswitch Broadband commented:

“Gamers can follow a few simple steps to keep their in-game spending under control. A great first move is tracking purchases in real time and reviewing transaction histories regularly, so you have a clear picture of how much you’re spending and where the money is going. Setting spending limits before you start playing can also help establish clear boundaries, while turning on account safeguards like PIN requirements or purchase approvals adds an extra layer of defense against unplanned spending.”

“It’s also important to pay attention to how in-game prompts are structured to push for quick decisions. Taking a brief pause before confirming a purchase can help cut down on impulse buys, especially during fast-paced gameplay sessions. Lastly, going over your subscriptions, add-ons and recurring purchases on a regular basis can help make sure you’re not paying for content you no longer use or didn’t mean to keep.”

In-game purchases and microtransactions also have an impact on player enjoyment. A 2024 YouGov survey found that 71% of UK gamers stated that in-game purchases and microtransactions had negatively impacted their enjoyment of video games to some extent.