HMV buys Gamerbase

HMV has announces its acquisition of Gamerbase, a state-of-the-art multiplayer gaming company. Gamerbase first opened its doors inside HMV's Trocadero store in London's Piccadilly Circus, last December 2007 on a concession basis. The new retail concept aimed to provide HMV customers with an unrivalled gaming experience and a ‘try before you buy' opportunity to sample new release games on PC and console formats ahead of purchase. Following a successful Trocadero trial, which has also seen a lift in the store's games software sales, HMV now plans to site the gaming centre within more of its stores around the country over the next twelve months and beyond. Full details will be announced in due course, but the first of these will be sited in HMV's Manchester Market Street superstore. This development of the Gamerbase format within HMV, including the Manchester launch, will be led by the company's Co-founders, Dominic Mulroy and Sujoy Roy, who have been retained by HMV in a senior managerial capacity. Tim Ellis, HMV Head of Games, said: "We've been developing our games offer in a number of ways, and we see instore gaming as an important strand in our overall strategy. Where we roll them out, we'll be looking to locate the Gamerbase centres next to our games departments to bring the whole offer together for our customers - so if someone's enjoyed playing a game online, they can pre-order or purchase it there and then.”

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