Profits soar for GameStop

GameStop has recorded profits of USD 24.7 million (EUR 18.3m), a rise of 111 per cent, and sales of USD 1.28 billion (EUR 949m), up 23 per cent, for the first quarter of 2007.

Although the Wii and DS have been key drivers, strong performances of all next-gen systems has boosted hardware sales by 75.1 per cent.

"Our first quarter results were driven by the strong growth of next-generation hardware despite both Nintendo products, the Wii and DS Lite, being in short supply throughout the quarter," commented CEO R. Richard Fontaine.

"Our business is benefiting from unmatched platform expansion. For much of the quarter, seven different platforms were represented among our top 25 best sellers.

"Not only was this unprecedented, but there is every indication that the Wii and DS Lite titles are attracting a new audience of gamers, while the allure of genre breakthrough titles like Guitar Hero II are expanding the audience for videogame product," he said.

Top selling titles for the US retailer have been Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, God of War II, Guitar Hero II, Crackdown and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2.

For the full financial year, GameStop expects to see sales grow 19-21 per cent.