It has been one of the winners from the success of the Wii Fit game and from titles such as Grand Theft Auto IV.

The company, led by chief executive Lisa Morgan, said underlying sales for the past 22 weeks were up 24 per cent.

Profits for the half year to the end of July were set to jump from £2.7million a year ago to £33million. Morgan said there had been “an unprecedented number” of launches “in a period that would normally be a quiet time in our industry”.

She insisted the games market had not peaked but the shares fell 11p to 251.25p on worries that rivals, such as HMV and Argos, would step up competition as they sought a bigger share of one of the few fast-growing retail sectors.

Investec analyst David Jeary said: “Game is approaching the top of the current cycle.”

He added competitive and pricing pressures were increasing.