Game Group is gunning for success with big releases

Crowds of teenagers are likely to turn out two days running in November as Game Group holds midnight launches for the next big console, Microsoft's Kinect, and the most desired game this year — Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Ian Shepherd, who took over as chief executive of the UK's biggest video game retail chain three months ago, reckons this is one major reason Game Group still has a future.

"It was a very quiet summer for new products, but recently there have been some big releases and every time we sell better than our normal share of the market," he said.

Game has returned to its normal pattern of making a loss in its first half at £18.8 million, and while sales are still falling the rate of decline has slowed down.

Revenues fell 9.6% at £625 million in the six months to the end of July. The chain's shares fell 12% or 8¼p to 57½p.