UK retailer GAME is now selling Xbox Live downloadable content and Arcade games in its stores, as a means of offering customers more choice. As part of a six-month trial period, 40 GAME stores are now offering DLC and Arcade codes for purchase. The retailer hopes that those consumers who do not have access to a credit card or Xbox online functionality will choose to shop with them. The codes on offer range in price from £2.04 to £10.20, and come printed on a card. The likes of Braid, Trials HD and Limbo are available in the scheme. Game Group hopes to introduce the cards into further stores and cover more Arcade games and DLC codes as the trial progresses. In a statement to UK trade site MCV, Game Group's commercial strategy director Tricia Brennan said "We know that lots of customers want to play downloadable games and they look to us, as expert retailers, for advice on the best way to do it". "We’ve listened to them and worked with Microsoft to provide the answers. From today it will be much easier to buy downloadable games as they will be able to buy digital games in cash for under a fiver." It was recently revealed that Game Group sales during the holiday period were down 4.1 percent compared to the previous year. Game Group cited "a difficult PC and video games marketplace and adverse weather" as the cause. Total sales for the rest of 2010 were down 9 percent, although used game sales continued to grow, as the category accounted for 25 percent of the retailer's sales for the year, up from 21 percent in 2009.
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