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Kinect, new core titles drive $3bn Xmas for GameStop

Black Ops and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood hits at US retail; Online sales up 100 per cent

US retailer GameStop has enjoyed record holiday sales for the nine week period ended January 1, primarily driven by new core titles and Microsoft's Kinect.

Total sales were $3.02 billion, up 5.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2009. Online sales were up 100 per cent on last year, and gift card sales jumped 32% during December.

"GameStop exceeded its holiday sales plan based on the strength in Kinect hardware and new software sales driven by core titles," commented Paul Raines, CEO.

"Additionally, our PowerUp Rewards loyalty program, already six million members strong, gave consumers more reasons than ever to shop GameStop across multiple channels."

New hardware sales were up 7.4 per cent thanks to Kinect, while new software was up 3.3 per cent off the back of multiformat titles Call of Duty: Black Ops from Activision and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood.

Sales in GameStop's Other category - which includes PC games and peripherals - grew 15 per cent due to PlayStation Move and Blizzard's World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

Used products were up 1.7 per cent overall during the nine weeks, although increased 8.5 per cent in December in the US, with GameStop noting "post-holiday sales are significantly outperforming expectations."

"Over the holiday, GameStop reaped the benefits of its investment in e-commerce," added Tony Bartel, president of the retailer. "GameStop.com sales rose more than 100 per cent versus last year, far outpacing online industry growth during the period, remaining the fastest growing website in the videogame space."

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Matt Martin

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Matt Martin joined GamesIndustry in 2006 and was made editor of the site in 2008. With over ten years experience in journalism, he has written for multiple trade, consumer, contract and business-to-business publications in the games, retail and technology sectors.

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