Konami condemns early sellers

October 27th, 2006, 21:52 Posted By: wraggster

Battle lines have been drawn between publishers, specialist retailers and general entertainment stores this week after Pro Evolution Soccer 6 was sold early across the UK.
Publisher Konami has hit out at Woolworths, which was the first chain to break the street date by putting the title on sale on Wednesday morning, two days before its official release. “Normally retailers claim that they are simply reacting to early-selling by their competitors, but it seems Woolworths took a deliberate strategy of pre-empting the situation and making sure they were one step ahead of the game,” said Konami UK general manager Peter Stone. “This is not something we condone. It leads to anarchy in the market and some retailers who do not yet have stock or are unable to react quickly enough will be heavily disadvantaged.” MCV has learnt that GAME, Gamestation and Choices UK were also guilty of selling copies of the game two days before its supposed October 27th street date (Today). Both Gamestation and Choices UK openly blamed Woolworths for their decision. “Gamestation will always match when Woolworths decides to go first on any major title,” said commercial director at Gamestation Martyn Gibbs. Head of games buying at Choices UK Martin Baxter backed Gamestation in adding: “It would be commercially unviable for us not to immediately follow Woolworths’ lead.” But it wasn’t just Pro Evo – Woolworths also reportedly sold FIFA 07 on Xbox 360 prematurely on Wednesday in some areas. A spokesperson for the High Street retailer told MCV that it blamed the move on the previous actions of its rivals, implicating those who forced Sega to bring forward the release of Football Manager 2007 last week. “Woolworths is reacting to what it has seen in the market over the past [fortnight],” said a spokesperson.

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