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Earlier this week retail chain GAME renewed its efforts to compete with its online competitors, revealing plans to sell Xbox LIVE DLC codes in its stores.
Now the company’s head of PR, Neil Ashurst, has said that the company’s future remains bright, arguing that there will always be a place for bricks-and-mortar games shops.
“Everyone always throws at us, and me, the whole thing around, ‘It’s all about digital, it’s all about download, there’s no place for a high-street retailer,'” said Ashurst, speaking to VideoGamer.com at a ceremony revealing the nominees for the GAME Award at this year’s BAFTA’s.
“We fundamentally disagree with that, and we showed that with yesterday’s announcement. There will always be a place for a retailer. The proportion or balance between online and stores, across the industry as a whole, may well change, but people will always want that in-store theatre – the big launch nights, the midnight openings.”
“There will always be people who will want to just download and get on with it, but there are a huge amount of people who want to come down and meet the developers, and we do all of that stuff fantastically well.”
Ashurst added that the new download code scheme might have helped Dawn Jordan – the unfortunate woman whose 11-year-old son wracked up a £1000 bill on her credit card.
“We’re getting digital [content] into our stores with the codes, which gives people other options. If you don’t want to be like the Microsoft credit card lady, there are other options.”
He concluded: “I’m not going to make a prediction in terms of 20 years’ time, but I believe there is a place for a games retailer on the high street.”
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