Supermarket giant Sainsbury's has told MCV it has plans to expand its dedicated games floor space in 2008 – claiming that 2007 ‘only shows the start of our ambitions in the category’.

“Video games have become an increasingly important part of our entertainment sales mix over the last year,” said buyer for CDs and games Brian Foote.

“We’ve increased space significantly and customers have responded really well. It has allowed us to support an increasing number of games formats. 2007 has been a record year for games in Sainsbury’s but only shows the start of our ambitions for the category.”

Foote points to the rise of casual gaming as the core of Sainsbury’s success in the sector – driving the retail chain to take the market more seriously than ever.

“We’ve always been a supporter of family-led franchises and the recent explosion in casual gaming formats has allowed us to enjoy some fantastic results,” he added.

“We will be reflecting this performance in our space next year. As games becomes more and more part of the mass market its relevance to us increases. An ever-broadening range of customers are shopping for games, many of whom are our core customers.

“The recent demand we have seen for Wii hardware has been nothing short of phenomenal and our colleagues are more excited about the category than they ever have been.”