UK games market poised for downturn

GAME’s share price dropped by over 10p today, as a prominent City analyst predicted a ‘downturn’ for the buoyant UK market.

GAME’s stock dropped by 4.13 per cent, down 11.75 pence, prompting Investec’s Natalia Marisova to paint a gloomy picture of the industry’s near future.

She wrote:

‘Growth and performance are strongly linked to the video games industry product cycles. In the absence of any major hardware releases until 2010, we believe that the video games market is poised for a downturn, limiting GAME’s growth prospects.’

Investec’s comments are in stark contrast to the recent Office Of National statistics report into the state of the UK High Street – which said UK games retail was in rude health, despite the well-reported credit crunch.