Play.com is set to put the UK consumer games show back on the map – with an audacious new ‘entertainment lifestyle’ expo at Wembley Stadium.

The retailer believes the two-day Play.com Live event will attract 40,000 consumers over the weekend of Saturday, March 15 – 16th next year.

It stands as the first major domestic consumer games show since the sad collapse of London’s GameStars Live in 2004 – the same year that UK trade show ECTS petered out.

Despite securing presentations from wider media giants, Play promises that games will be the focus of the event.

And the retailer is calling on publishers to make it ‘the best interactive entertainment show the UK can offer’.

“The publicity generated by a large-scale consumer show is extremely important for the UK industry,” Play’s head of games Gian Luzio told MCV. “The chasm left by the lack of a central UK games spectacle has been clear for all to see.”

The show, co-organised by Tandem Events, will target mainstream consumers. Adult ticket prices have been kept deliberately low: just £9 per day, or £16 for a weekend pass. A major marketing campaign will kick off in January, involving both the national press and top lifestyle titles.

“E3 and TGS are nowhere near as much fun for consumers as this will be,” added Luzio.

And Play.com COO Stuart Rowe said: “Live will be a fantastic, engaging entertainment experience – without costing consumers the Earth.”