Ahead of the looming console wars that will break out with the launch of both Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One at the end of November, global games retailer GameStop is this week holding a gathering of more than 500 senior managers from across Europe in Dublin who will get to grips with the new consoles for the first time.
Microsoft’s next-generation console the Xbox One will be released on 22 November next while the PlayStation 4 will arrive in Europe on 29 November.
The three-day event in Shelbourne Hall in the RDS takes place between Tuesday and Thursday of this week.
GameStop employs more than 30,000 people globally, and has a turnover in the region of €9bn. In Ireland, GameStop has 52 retail stores with 11 operating in Dublin alone.
GameStop recently selected Swords, Co Dublin, as the North European headquarters with responsibilities for IT, e-commerce, audit and accounting, Northern Europe merchandising and marketing and operations, resulting in a significant number of new jobs.
The brainchild of GameStop European vice-president Niall Lawlor, this ‘Gaming Gathering’ as the team at GameStop have dubbed it, will see more than 500 GameStop managers from across Europe meet the next generation of gaming technology.
It is expected yet-to-be-released consoles, such as Xbox One and PlayStation 4, will be on site in the RDS for the GameStop team to demo.
Lawlor believes the Irish gaming industry is in a growth phase, which makes Dublin an appropriate place for the gathering.
“What better place than Dublin to hold this major event for GameStop? Dublin is our North European headquarters and with the year of The Gathering, it made sense to host our very own ‘Gaming Gathering’,” he said.
Video games image via Shutterstock
