{"id":275862,"date":"2026-01-09T12:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/275862\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T12:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T12:00:10","slug":"game-over-for-old-consoles-as-christmas-gift-gaming-boom-sends-abandoned-total-to-49-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/275862\/","title":{"rendered":"Game over for old consoles as Christmas gift gaming boom sends abandoned total to 49 million"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"3\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Virgin Media O2\u00a0data\u00a0reveals\u00a0approximately\u00a049\u00a0million gaming consoles are now stashed in cupboards and drawers across the UK \u2013 worth a combined total of \u00a34.14\u00a0billion.*\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"3\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\">The surge follows a Christmas gaming gift boom, with Virgin Media O2 seeing a\u00a0170%\u00a0increase in sales of Nintendo Switch consoles, with\u00a0gamers spending more than\u00a0three\u00a0hours playing per day.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"3\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\">With\u00a071% of Brits heading\u00a0into January feeling strapped for cash, gamers\u00a0could\u00a0make\u00a0an average of\u00a0\u00a3145\u00a0by trading in old consoles through\u00a0O2\u00a0Recycle.**\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With gamers powering up new consoles and video games at\u00a0Christmas, the upgrade in new tech has resulted in\u00a0approximately\u00a049 million old consoles sitting unused in UK homes, according\u00a0to new research from Virgin Media O2.\u00a0In total, the combined value of this unused tech has been calculated at a staggering \u00a34.14 billion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The build-up of unused tech follows a surge in gaming gifts over Christmas, with\u00a050%\u00a0of Brits,\u00a0or someone in their household,\u00a0reportedly\u00a0receiving\u00a0a video game console, accessory,\u00a0or game.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This trend is\u00a0reflected in\u00a0O2\u00a0sales data,\u00a0where\u00a0in the run-up\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0festive period,\u00a0the operator\u00a0recorded\u00a0a staggering 170% increase in sales of Nintendo Switch\u00a0consoles\u00a0(Gen 1, OLED, Lite and Switch 2), and a\u00a05\u00a0% increase in Xbox sales.\u00a0As new devices entered homes, gamers said\u00a0they spent\u00a0more than\u00a0three\u00a0hours\u00a0using their consoles\u00a0each day\u00a0over the festive\u00a0period.***\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As old devices\u00a0become unwanted,\u00a0<b>cash-strapped<\/b>\u00a0<b>Brits\u00a0could recoup\u00a0an average of<\/b>\u00a0<b>\u00a3145<\/b>\u00a0this January by recycling unused\u00a0consoles\u00a0through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.o2recycle.co.uk\/trade\/public?utm_source=o2pr&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=o2r_jan2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">O2 Recycle<\/a>, while also helping reduce electronic waste by keeping valuable tech in\u00a0circulation\u00a0for\u00a0reuse or responsible\u00a0recycling.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Game over for millions of old consoles<\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>As new consoles took pride of place in UK living rooms\u00a0at\u00a0Christmas, older devices were\u00a0relegated to cupboards and drawers, with\u00a0UK households now sitting on an average of\u00a01.73\u00a0unused consoles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Nearly half\u00a0of Brits (49%)\u00a0admit\u00a0they have an old video game console\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0gathering dust, while 54%\u00a0are\u00a0keeping\u00a0old consoles \u201cjust in case\u201d they want to play\u00a0them\u00a0again,\u00a0despite not having used them in years.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For those who received a new console\u00a0as a gift, almost one in five (18%) plan to pack their old one away, while 14% will keep it plugged in but\u00a0will\u00a0rarely use it. One in ten (10%)\u00a0admit\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0likely to throw their old console away altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>PS5 tops the list of gaming consoles\u00a0received<\/b><br \/>Among\u00a0the new consoles\u00a0received this year,\u00a0the\u00a0PlayStation 5\u00a0was the most popular, according to Virgin Media O2\u2019s\u00a0consumer\u00a0research:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Gen 1\u00a0or OLED Nintendo Switches (12%)\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Newly launched\u00a0Nintendo Switch 2 (6%)\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-setsize=\"-1\" data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"6\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"6\" data-aria-level=\"1\">Gaming\u00a0accessories (18%)\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Lost loot\u00a0could earn gamers big rewards<\/b><br \/>Many gamers are unaware of the value\u00a0of their unwanted gaming tech\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0locked away in their homes.\u00a0Almost half of Brits (46%)\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0realise they could get\u00a0paid\u00a0for trading in an old gaming console,\u00a0even though 57% say they would be likely to do so if they knew they could earn up to \u00a3150.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Through Virgin Media O2\u2019s\u00a0O2 Recycle scheme, Brits can turn unused\u00a0tech into cash. Gamers can receive up to \u00a3160 for a PlayStation 5, up to \u00a392 for a Nintendo Switch (OLED) and up to \u00a3110 for an Xbox Series X****.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Giving consoles a second life\u00a0<\/b>\u00a0<br \/>With 60% of Brits feeling guilty about unused tech sitting around the house instead of being recycled, O2 Recycle offers\u00a0a simple way\u00a0to give unwanted consoles a second life.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The scheme is open to anyone, regardless of\u00a0their\u00a0mobile network,\u00a0and devices are either\u00a0repaired, refurbished and resold, or responsibly recycled \u2013 with\u00a0zero parts going to landfill.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since its launch in 2009, O2 Recycle has recycled more than four million devices and paid out \u00a3356\u00a0million to consumers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><b>Dana Haidan, Chief Sustainability Officer at\u00a0Virgin<\/b>\u00a0<b>Media O2<\/b>, said:\u00a0\u201cWith millions of new\u00a0consoles\u00a0taking pride of place in\u00a0gamers\u2019\u00a0homes this January, we know it can be overwhelming for Brits to know what to do with their unwanted\u00a0gaming\u00a0gadgets.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0why O2 Recycle exists \u2013 to keep consoles\u00a0and other tech\u00a0in use for longer, whether\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0refurbishing and reselling them so they can be enjoyed by other gamers, or by ensuring\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0responsibly recycled when reuse\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy trading in old consoles through O2 Recycle, people can unlock extra cash at a time when many are feeling the January squeeze, while helping to cut down on\u00a0electronic\u00a0waste and support a more circular approach to tech.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virgin Media O2\u00a0data\u00a0reveals\u00a0approximately\u00a049\u00a0million gaming consoles are now stashed in cupboards and drawers across the UK \u2013 worth a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[18,19,17,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-275862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-technology"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115865034700177169","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}