New releases help Game sales recover

Retail chain Game today said strong Christmas demand for new video games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and FIFA 11 helped it deliver an improved sales performance over the festive period.

Game saw UK and Ireland like-for-like sales declines narrow to 0.5% in the five weeks to January 8 from a 7.6% drop in the previous 18 weeks.

The retailer, which has 641 UK and 677 overseas stores and concessions, weathered the high street snow impact and difficult trading conditions that hit close rival HMV over Christmas.

It has been helped by record-breaking sales of new blockbuster games, as well as the launch of motion-sensing devices Kinect for the Xbox and PlayStation’s Move.

Shares in Game jumped 14% as the City cheered news of a further improvement in sales.