Exclusive deals for Collector’s Editions may irk some of the gaming public, but the strategy has reaped big rewards for retailer GAME in the last year.
"Last year we offered customers 39 exclusive versions of titles, and on average they delivered a market share around a third higher than when we sell a generic version of a game," group chief executive Ian Shepherd said today.
"Our exclusives are stronger than ever, and in Q1 2011 have included exclusive versions of Pokemon Black and White; the Bulletstorm Epic edition which provided Beta access to Gears of War 3; and the Crysis 2 Nano Edition which included an exclusive backpack, figurine and book."
"Increasingly we are working with supplier partners to provide customers with exclusive digital content when they buy a physical copy of a game. This helps us to introduce customers to digital content, and to position GAME as the lead authority on multichannel gaming.
"We maintain a very strong share on all new products because our supplier partners see how we actively sell more products than anyone else, and they support us with exclusive products and appropriate volumes of stock."