Tesco laughs off GAME’s 3DS stock plot

Leading UK supermarket chain Tesco has responded to news of GAME’s 3DS stock purchase plan with a short, dismissive statement.

An internal memo was leaked onto the internet yesterday showing that GAME instructed employees about an optional plan to buy low price 3DS consoles from Tesco and then sell them as pre-owned stock in their own stores.

"We always provide Tesco customers with the best value," a statement issued to MCV read. "We think you could say this is game, set and match."

The retailer was offering 3DS for an eye-watering 175 on launch day provided customers also purchased a 35 game at the same time.

Some of our stores wanted to move quickly last weekend to build their pre-owned stocks of 3DS at the same time as their local competitors," a GAME spokesperson reiterated to MCV.

"So we gave them a process to do that. It was not mandatory, and happened in small volumes.”

It is not uncommon for one retailer to take advantage of discount offers at rivals to bolster their own stock. However, we rarely see examples on the scale revealed yesterday.