MSN Games

London, 22 October 2010: MSN today launches a new MSN Games channel www.msn.co.uk/games that will provide a real focus on a wide a range of gaming content, encompassing lifestyle and family titles, as well as releases for the more hardcore gamers.  Gaming editorial on MSN is currently supported by the Tech & Gadgets channel but as part of the refresh, all existing content will be taken out of MSN Tech & Gadgets and merged into the new channel.

While continuing to cover hardcore gaming titles like “Grand Theft Auto”, “Forza” and “Halo”, MSN Games will also focus on casual gamers and more family-orientated games, such as Guitar Hero, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing and Sims, as well as the best in free online games, including Bejewelled and Mah Jong Tiles.

Celebrity gamer and comedian, Iain Lee, will continue to provide his expert opinion in his hugely successful, monthly podcast, GameCast.  MSN Games  will also include weekly updates of the UK games chart, the latest gaming news, reviews, previews of forthcoming releases, as well as regular polls, user challenges and exciting ’best of’ features.

Steven Wilson-Beales, MSN Games Content Manager, said: “MSN is delighted to be able to offer users a channel that is dedicated to the gaming industry.  The gaming industry has evolved. It was once a place only for hardcore gaming, but now it’s for them and all the family. Research shows there are a huge number of gamers who own consoles and regularly play games, but do not consider themselves hardcore gamers. We wanted to create a channel that reflects the needs and interests of both these categories and have paid particular attention to the console market, to provide current content that is engaging, relevant and most importantly, enjoyable for the user.” 

MSN Games has been created with casual and hardcore gamers in mind, following the success of the Gamer hub, which attracted 975,000 unique users monthly in the UK ⁽¹⁾.  For view the new channel, go to www.msn.co.uk/games.

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For more information on MSN Him, please contact the MSN team on 020 7009 3100 or email msn@3-monkeys.co.uk.

Notes to editors:

⁽¹⁾                 comScore June 2010

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