UK games store count tumbles

It’s official: specialist games retail is in decline.

According to MCV research, the number of leading game specialists has reduced by around 116 stores year-on-year.

Findings come from MCV’s 2010 guide to games retail (find more on page 16) which covers all the latest movements from the top 12 High Street retailers.

HMV, Argos and Grainger Games bucked the trend with 28 new stores opened between them in the past 12 months, while GAME, Gamestation, Blockbuster and CHIPS saw a cumulative 144 stores closed. This brings the amount of specialist outlets down from 2,455 to 2,339.

However, all the major supermarket game stockists were up, with Asda opening 19 stores, Morrisons adding 51 outlets, Sainsbury’s establishing 76 new sites and Tesco opening a whopping 197 stores.

A total of 343 new supermarkets from leading chains opened in the past year, up to 4,148 from last year’s 3,805.