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Activision titles help GameStop holiday sales grow 22 per cent

Warcraft, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero boost sales to $2.86 billion during Christmas period

GameStop sales over the Christmas period increased 22.3 per cent off the back of strong performance by a number of Activision, Microsoft and Nintendo releases

For the nine week period between November 2 to January 3, total sales were USD 2.86 billion, compared to USD 2.33 billion in 2007. Comparable store sales for the period increased 10.2 per cent.

The top five best-selling titles were Activision's Call of Duty: World at War, Guitar Hero World Tour and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, Microsoft's Gears of War 2 and Wii Fit from Nintendo.

New videogame sales were up 23.5 per cent, said the US retailer, with many titles selling in record numbers. The group also singled out the Wii and Xbox 360 for "robust" hardware sales.

"As expected, the consumer saw great entertainment value in videogames in one of the most challenging holiday shopping seasons ever," commented Dan DeMatteo, CEO.

"In fact, in the midst of a serious recession, our average transaction was higher this year than last. In addition, our proprietary inventory management systems allowed us to maintain a great in-stock position during the busiest season we have ever experienced.

"A major highlight of the period was that GameStop's sales grew in every worldwide territory in which we operate; a clear indication that the GameStop model works everywhere," he added.

The retailer said that gift card sales were up 15 per cent during the period, and December 26 was the third highest sales day in terms of volume in GameStop's history.

"Our store associates did a tremendous job of making sure all of our holiday shoppers found the right systems, games, and accessories to fill their wish lists," said J. Paul Raines, COO.

"Their hard work and knowledge of our wide assortment of game products was critical in serving a record number of GameStop customers."

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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.