The solution
Elgiganten wanted Swedish gamers, but specialist gaming retailers owned the relationship. The hidden asset was that many gamers already held valuable Counter-Strike skins, while cashing them out could mean 15-30% fees or fraud risk.
Instead of discounting hardware, Elgiganten built GamePay for DreamHack Stockholm. Customers logged in with Steam, selected skins, and converted them into a fee-free voucher for physical electronics.
The One Show entry reports that in the first three days sales exceeded 2.7 million SEK, GamePay added 5% incremental growth, 71% of gamers became more positive toward the brand, and the launch generated 10.3 million impressions.
What it achieved
Treat game skins as stored retail value
Why it worked
It used a real audience asset, not a gimmick: skins already had market value.
It solved the trust problem by moving conversion into a retailer-controlled checkout.
It made Elgiganten culturally useful at DreamHack instead of just present there.
What can be applied
A retailer can win a niche audience by accepting the value that audience already has, instead of forcing it back into cash first.
Aftermath
The service launched at DreamHack Stockholm on November 22-24, 2024, and the One Show case said expansion to Finland, Norway, and Denmark was planned for 2025. It won a 2025 One Show Bronze Pencil in Creative Use of Technology.
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