Retail

This year will be a major year for the independent retail scene, say store owners. Indie retailers hope the mass closure of HMV and Blockbuster stores have provided them with opportunities to expand both their in-store offerings and the number of shops. Last week, major retailers pledged to fill the …

Gary Warren has been appointed managing director of the new Blockbuster UK. The firm was acquired by ‘TS 1973 Investment Holdings’ (a subsidiary of investment firm Gordon Brothers Europe) earlier today. 264 stores have been saved with 2,000 members of staff. Warren (pictured right) is best known for his role …

Deloitte has confirmed that it has completed the sale of Blockbuster for an undisclosed sum. Buyers Gordon Brothers Europe have acquired 264 stores, saving around 2,000 jobs in the process. The Blockbuster brand license has been retained as part of the deal. Having identified a profitable core portfolio of stores …

The world of eSports is once again demanding attention after Blizzard’s StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm attracted some impressive numbers. The game’s 21 hour launch broadcast from the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Winter Championship on Twitch attracted over 1.1m viewers. Concurrent viewers hit a high of over 157k. …

Six out of ten publishers have admitted that they either rarely release or never release their games in boxed physical form. The exception, of course, is console and PC releases where the majority of publishers either release game physically or via a ‘Buy&Download’ model. That’s just one of many findings …

Steam title Antichamber has done pretty well for itself since its release in June. Creator Alexander Bruce told Polygon that the game has sold 100,000 units on Valve’s platform. And for those thinking 100k is not an impressive number – we can assure you it’s far in excess of some …

GameStick creator PlayJam has revealed dev kits for its portable Android console will start shipping next week, when the hardware will be making its first public appearance at GDC 2013. An update to the GameStick Kickstarter page shows a photo of the pre-production prototype being sent to devs, as well …

Following the loss of HMV and Blockbuster stores, the role of a distributor has become (in principle) easier for now, with fewer stores to deliver to. But this offers no comfort when there are fewer orders coming in. So have the suppliers been hurt the most by the High Street’s …

Morrisons is tackling the video games market with renewed focus this year, according to its games buyer Simon Millea. The grocer plans to make its games business more relevant and theatrical for its customers by being more selective with the titles it stocks and finding new sources of revenue. We …

EA’s digital download service Origin has now attracted over 40m members, the publisher has confirmed. That’s up from the 39m it had at the end of last year, GameSpot reports, with the jump likely due to the recent release of SimCity which requires Origin membership to play. To celebrate the …