Press releases
2,000 new Christmas jobs at GAME
10/10/2003
GAME, the UK’s largest chain of video games stores, is recruiting over 2,000 temporary staff for the Christmas period – increasing its workforce by some 50% – following a massive escalation in competition between electronics giants Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
The move follows today’s (Friday) dramatic price cut from Nintendo, slashing the cost of a GameCube by £50 to £79.99; and Sony’s £30 cut on the popular Playstation 2 last week (reducing it to £139.99).
Microsoft kicked off the latest contest last month by announcing a special Christmas promotion package that saves customers £60* when they buy an Xbox (£129.99)*.
All three corporations are vying for their console to be the most popular this Christmas.
The UK computer game market is already set for it biggest Christmas ever, with sales predicted to overtake music for the first time ever.
With games of major movie titles like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter - along with sequels to game blockbusters Medal of Honor, FIFA Football, Championship Manager and The Sims - all due for release in coming weeks, demand for consoles has never been higher.
“More people are buying consoles and games than ever before. This Christmas we need to recruit 2,000 extra staff to serve our customers in the stores, and help behind the scenes to get the games and consoles onto the shelves” said Alan Kilby, Operations Director of GAME.
“The price cuts and deals from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are excellent news for customers, who are already looking forward to some phenomenal new games this Christmas.”
“We serve a huge number of people at Christmas who are buying games as presents, but know little about the products. With 5 totally different formats and over 3,000 titles available, we totally understand how customers need a lot of help and advice when shopping for games. So we’re looking for enthusiastic staff who can give customers good information and service when looking for presents this Christmas.”
The majority of the new part time jobs at GAME will be temporary for Christmas and the January Sale. However, as happened last year, it’s anticipated that many will take up more permanent positions with the company in the New Year.
For further details please contact:
Simon Soffe / Lisa Artemis – GAME PR Dept
01344 464442 / 464512
About GAME:
GAME is Europe's leading specialist retailer of computer software and video games. The Group (formerly called Electronics Boutique) currently operates from over 340 stores in the UK and Eire, 30 GAME stores in Sweden, over 90 CentroMAIL stores in Spain and over 55 ScoreGames stores in France. It also offers on-line shopping and game play services.
For further corporate information log onto www.gamegroup.plc.uk, and for the new look on-line store log onto www.game.uk.com
Facts about video games in 2003:
- There are 7.9 million video game consoles in the UK, which includes PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, GameBoy Advance and GameBoy Advance SP (a); globally there are over 109 million.
- The UK video games market is now worth over £2 billion a year (f)
- Halo on Microsoft Xbox still holds the record for being the game to sell 1 million units worldwide in the fastest time - just four months after launch (b)
- Last year Grand Theft Auto Vice City was the bestselling game at Christmas - selling more than 1,663,364 million (a) copies in the UK to date, with first week sales of 307,480 (a). (The number one Christmas single was Blue ft. Elton John - 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word', which sold 87,000 (c) in the first week; the number one Christmas DVD was Spiderman: The Movie, which sold 370,000 (d) in the first week.)
- Games on the PlayStation 2 take on average over 4 times (e) longer to develop than games for the PlayStation 1, because of the extra special effects and graphics. For example, the PlayStation 2 technology is so sophisticated that in the new game FIFA 2004, you can now see dirt and sweat on the player's skin increase as the game progresses.
- The average game takes around 35 hours to complete, and with increasing downloadable content available, for example with the Xbox Live service, and on-line PC games, enabling people to play games with others across the globe, gameplay is essentially unlimited.
(a)Source: ChartTrack
(b)Source: NPD
(c) Source: The Official UK Charts Company
(d) Source: CIN
(e) Source: Electronic Arts
(f) Source: ELSPA
*£149.99 for an Xbox + 2 free games (Halo and Midtown Madness). Starts 31 October 2003
Recruitment enquiries please contact: fieldrecruitment@game.uk.com
Press enquiries please contact:
Simon Soffe / Lisa Artemis – GAME PR Dept
01344 464442 / 464512
