Media Partner THE MARKET FOR COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES
06 Blizzard on retail The PC publisher discusses the importance of the High Street in an online age
09 Big media reveal for Dirt 3 Codemasters’ off-road racer is unveiled on ESPN and through the specialist press
12 Getting Kinected How Kinect can reach mainstream players – even at £129.99
EVERY BUYER EVERY BRANCH EVERY INDIE EVERY WEEK
GameStop will expand UK presence… but via online sites, not shops
Forget High Street, digital platforms are key to global games giant’s growth Can it steal a march on specialist press, too?
by Michael French
FOR YEARS, MCV has asked: Just when will global games giant GameStop finally, properly expand its chain into the UK? But it turns out GameStop
doesn’t have to be here to tap into the second-largest games retail market in the world: the firm has told MCV its new digital games strategy can help it reach UK gamers – without having to open another shop. Discussing its digital plans
with MCV following the acquisition of Flash games portal Kongregate last week, digital ventures GM Chris Petrovic said: “The benefit of any digital business is that it is location agnostic.
“It does give us purview into those territories where we don’t have a physical presence.”
“ GameStop says it doesn’t need to open stores to reach UK customers
slight British foothold is enough in a vast business that includes more than 6,500 stores across almost 20 countries worldwide, and one of the last remaining consumer games magazine superbrands in Game Informer.
Our digital business gives us an opportunity in areas where our retail base isn’t as strong as other countries. Chris Petrovic, GameStop
He added that acquisitions like Kongregate “give us an opportunity to make an entrée into areas where we don’t have a retail presence at all, or where our retail base isn’t as strong as other countries”. GameStop owns only two UK stores – in Birmingham and Cheshire. But maybe that
Certainly, the approach can help GameStop reach out to developers and other content firms, as well as consumers. The user community and developers using Kongregate are spread across the world, beyond its home of North America. Site founder Jim Greer told MCV that the UK is its
number two traffic source. “We definitely can help GameStop enter new areas,” he said. And it won’t just be GAME, GameStation and HMV that could feel pressure from GameStop’s sneaking into UK mindshare via the web. The likes of IGN, GameSpot
and Eurogamer may find themselves challenged too, as GameStop looks to engage consumers with all sorts of content online.
Added Greer: “
GameStop.com presents the same opportunity. It’s moving towards being a broad portal with gameplay, content and community as well as e-commerce features. “Along with Kongregate, it
won’t be just a place where you want to buy a game, but somewhere you go to find out more about a game, or play it.”
INCORPORATING Issue 599 Friday August 6 2010 £3.25
WITH THIS
ISSUE
The FIFA 11 Fixtures Guide to the upcoming Premier League season
ROONEY AND KAKA LEAD FIFA 11 CHARGE
FOOTBALL SUPERSTARS Wayne Rooney and Kaka will headline FIFA 11’s arrival on October 1st. The Manchester United and Real Madrid stars will
grace the cover, and team up with other global players for a TV ad that will begin airing in
September. Kaka is the global face of the game,
while Rooney is the UK version’s cover star. It’s been a big year for FIFA. FIFA 10
sold over 2m units in the UK and World Cup 2010was No.1 in the charts for three weeks. EA also released two online FIFAPC titles in June – Playfish’s Facebook title FIFA Superstars and the free-to-play FIFA Online.
PERSONNEL 35 RETAIL BIZ 37 NEW RELEASES 44 HIGH STREET 46 CHARTS 48
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