GAME’s like-for-like sales drop by 9.9%

The UK’s leading games retailer GAME has reported a 9.9 per cent drop in like-for-like sales for the 26 weeks ending July 31st 2011.

It’s a tough time for every retailer at the moment, and gaming is no exception. However, despite the challenges GAME succeeded in increasing its market share.

Group turnover for the period fell from 624.6m in the same period in 2010 to 558.8m. Losses increased from 18.8m to 48m.

GAME’s global store count, including franchises, fell from 1,338 to 1,287 throughout the period.

2011 has been a very tough year for the video games industry,” CEO Ian Shepherd stated. A combination of a cyclical low point in the industry itself and unprecedented macro-economic conditions have led to significant market revenue declines.

GAME Group has increased market share in this difficult climate as we have focussed on delivering our strategy. Nonetheless, the impact of the wider market can be seen on our first half results.

Like many other retailers, we believe that trading conditions will remain tough for the remainder of the year, and have set our plans accordingly. We are determined to again outperform a difficult market this Christmas, by using our unique specialist position to give customers the very best choice and value.

For the future, we are investing for a different video games market, with new games consoles coming to market and customers exploring new ways of playing games, including digital; online; and cloud-based gaming. The Group, through its Dedicated to Gaming strategy initiatives, is taking a leading role in these developments in order to benefit from market recovery in the coming years.”

GAME added that its store closure plans remain on track.