What: Playhouse, an emporium of gaming devices and content, will be located in the Oxford Street store basement.

Why it is important: Again emphasizing experiences, Selfridges will introduce new exclusives on a twice-monthly basis to create traffic and excitement. Lines are expected for some activities.

Almost two thirds of UK adults played video games over 2020, with every age category ticking upwards as people strove to fill all of those lockdown hours.

Playhouse borrows from the Apple handbook, with products displayed like objet d’art on glowing plinths, with everything from futuristic Rubix cubes to high-end gaming PCs treated with the same fetishistic reverence.

You’re encouraged to pick up and prod the products, and when you’re not browsing the merch, there are rows of old-school arcade machines (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Pac-Man etcetera). Perhaps the biggest draw are the gaming installations: an Aston Martin car pod with a wrap-around screen to practice your racing skills; a VR headset; and, most spectacularly, a virtual reality gaming chair in which you can spin around and upside down taking on the Decepticons in a Transformers shoot-em-up.

Smartech (the biggest concession in the store), who spent two years developing the “retailtainment” concept, says the products will be constantly updated to include the latest hot gadgets.

Playhouse, a shrine to video games, launches at Selfridges as industry sales surge