£45m sales windfall for games retail

UK retailers took home over 45m during the biggest sales week for video games this year.

According to our retail sources, 3DS generated around 25m in software and hardware sales during its first two days on sale. It bested the DS’ debut UK week in 2005.

Overall it was a substantial seven day sales period for games retail, with some 1,200 stores opening at midnight for the arrival of 3DS

It also marked the first time the grocers took a big stake in a console launch, with Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s running their own in-store events and price promotions.

However, it wasn’t all 3DS, with EA’s Crysis 2 and LucasArts’ multiformat LEGO Star Wars III the biggest sellers of the week.