eBay has launched its own video game online store. Entitled The Entertainment Shop, it has been set up to sell video games, music, books and films that are either new or used. Its main appeal is the cost – it is going to offer competitive listing fees for games publishers and marketing/ advertising ahead of new release games.
The shop will be in competition with other online game retailers, notably the major retailer Game, who have recently launched their own marketplace. However, there is no shortage of demand in the UK and it could work out very well for eBay.
Between July 2016 and July 2017, eBay has reported that there were more than 553m searches for games. This is a year on year rise of 11m searches, showing that demand is huge. Many users still want physical video game products, rather than downloading materials online. Games can very much still be collectors’ items.