HMV U-turns on game plan

Just weeks after telling MCV it will cut the store space dedicated to games, HMV has changed its mind.

Instead it will actually now grow the amount of space for games as it looks to take advantage of market gaps left by the shrunken GAME.

Earlier this year the High Street chain merged its games and technology teams together and said that it would reduce space for video games in-store.

But now CEO Simon Fox thinks the firm can become a powerhouse games specialist once again.

Although the retailer last week warned it would make a full-year loss, it says it can post profits of 10m next year with a new games focus.

Before and during Christmas the support we were getting from the games industry in general was disappointing,” HMV CEO Simon Fox told MCV.

Since then we rebuilt our relationships with all the key publishers. The relationships that we now have with the industry have never been stronger. We have gone from thinking that we might have to reduce the space for games to the opposite.

The High Street has nearly 300 fewer dedicated games outlets. We have a credible games offer on many of those High Streets and it would be absolutely criminal of us to not take advantage of that. We need to do everything that we can to grab market share, both where we are up against GAME and where we are not.”