HMV wants its Oxford Street store to be home of new national game launches

HMV wants its West End Oxford Street store to become the new home for midnight game launches.

It follows the closure of GAME?Oxford Street – which for years had been the publishers’ choice for official launch events.

Since Game no longer has a major West End presence, we hope publishers will view our flagship store, with its space, layout and profile, as the obvious venue for their releases,” games marketing planner Laura Yates said.

Publishers have already been holding events at our Oxford Street store – earlier this year, we had a spectacular launch for Diablo III and recently staged activity for Sony’s Book of Spells.

Central London is still the best place to engage with national media, and our Oxford Street flagship is in the heart of the West End for fans and press alike.

We’re speaking to suppliers about quite a few events for the weeks and months ahead.”

HMV’s statement of intent comes ahead of some major game launches, including FIFA, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty and Wii U.

But Game Retail isn’t about to let HMV have it all its own way. The firm’s CEO?Martyn Gibbs told MCV that the retailer is on the hunt for a new West End premises.