HMV to expand game plan, industry relationships "have never been stronger"

Merely weeks after HMV confirmed it was cutting store space dedicated to gaming, the company has changed its mind.

Instead, HMV will now expand its gaming section, as the retailer looks to take advantage of the gaps left by GAME.

Although the company will make a loss this year, CEO Simon Fox believes a £10 million profit can be produced with the gaming expansion next year.

Speaking to MCV, Fox commented:

”Before and during Christmas the support we were getting from the games industry in general was disappointing.

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.”

Fox continued, ”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.”