By Marc Allera, CEO, EE.

A year ago we launched New EE : a telco for the future. We’ve built New EE to provide customers with all they need for our fast-moving world of technology beyond the connectivity we’ve always been famous for.

We unveiled our new look and feel with the tagline “New EE does more”.

Gaming is one of the best examples of how we’re doing more. Of how we’re making things better for our customers. We know gaming matters to them. It’s the biggest entertainment category in the world now. Bigger than music *and * film combined as a category. And it’s growing.

We’re growing with it. This past year has seen us take huge strides forwards with our ambition to become the number 1 gaming destination in the UK, and it was superb to see our team’s efforts recognised with EE named the Gaming Retailer of the Year at the PCR Awards earlier this month.

Partnering with some of the most exciting gaming and tech companies in the world, including PlayStation, Xbox, Nvidia, Activision and Meta, means we can see the future. The console is just one part. That’s why our strategy for our gaming business brings together ecommerce, retail, experiential, community and our networks to give gamers everything they need.

We sell games consoles in the same way as we do smartphones. We’ve taken our connectivity and combined it with the capability we have to enable customers to spread their payments and bundle services like Game Pass Ultimate from Xbox. We’re already one of the biggest retailers in the UK for gaming consoles. In the past few weeks, we’ve launched the Xbox Series X and Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset as standalone products and as part of gaming bundles. And the new PlayStation 5 Pro is now available to pre-order in the same way.

The PS5 Pro is particularly exciting – not only because PlayStation have called it the most visually impressive way to play games on their console but also because it’s Wi-Fi 7 compatible, meaning our customers will get the most out of it with faster speeds and lower latency if they pair it with EE’s new Wi-Fi 7 Smart Hub Pro and Smart WiFi Pro. Think of it as WiFi made for gamers. And a console doesn’t have to be Wi-Fi 7 compatible to deliver brilliant connectivity for gaming.

Networks made for gamers

It’s not just EE broadband that will give gamers the best possible connection. We launched our new 5G Standalone network in September, giving mobile gamers the fastest, most reliable, lowest-latency, best mobile connectivity out there.

5G Standalone is really built to enable the game-changing services that are to come. The most obvious of these is Network Slicing – multiple virtual networks on top of a shared physical network to provide greater flexibility in the use and allocation of network resources. That gives us the ability to guarantee performance even at the busiest times and means EE’s 5G Standalone network is perfect for mobile gaming, streaming or video conferencing on the move.

Talking of the services of the future (and the services of now, for that matter), it’s increasingly crucial that we ensure our network stays ahead of the rapid evolution of AI if we are to keep bringing our customers the best device experiences.

5G Standalone has been designed to do just that. It enables AI applications to connect seamlessly to the cloud, providing the best experience, each time, dynamically responding to changing needs and network pressures. It’s security aware. Streaming aware. Gaming aware.

More in store

We’re not only continually building our networks. We’re adding to our EE Game Store all the time, too, as we promised we would at launch. You don’t need to be on EE to access it: anyone can buy anything from one of the UK’s largest range of gaming products, from chairs to controllers to racing wheels.

We’ve also broadened our offering to introduce a new category, with our range of gaming desktop and graphic card bundles – and b oth come with a 24-month EE Gamer’s Data and Video Data Pass. The EE GameCard, meanwhile, is a gift card that you can use on thousands of products across all gaming platforms as well as in-game purchases and currency. It gives customers the flexibility to choose their own gaming adventure.

Being part of the gaming community’s conversation is important to us, too. EE Game Day is an annual celebration of gaming culture, giving everyone the chance to win prizes via the EE Game Store by transforming the UK into the world’s biggest gaming arcade for 24 hours in September. This year, we made our billboard advertising and retail stores playable nationwide. All you had to do was scan the QR codes or search ‘EE Game Day’ in TikTok Effects for our in-app social game. We also hosted a gaming activation on Brighton Pier.

Not only did thousands of people across the UK get involved, but we saw a 20 per cent console market share that week. It was another way of letting people know that our gaming offering is built by gamers, for gamers.

Exclusive experiences

Players can get exclusive access to in-game bonus content with EE, too, thanks to our being official partner of *Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 * for the UK. In August, we gave 100,000 fans access to *Call of Duty: Black Ops * *6 * ’s Early Access Beta, and we can’t wait to bring players even more with new bundles, in-game content and a special in-store event to mark the release of the new edition.

Our stores remain an important part of how we’re doing more for customers. As part of our £6m investment in the UK high street, we're opening 10 Experience stores this year. All have Gaming Zones featuring elite gaming rigs, racing simulators, virtual reality experiences and the most up-to-date games and consoles so gamers of all levels can come in and experience no-holds-barred gaming for themselves.

And we remain a guide online with EE GameSmart – designed to give parents everything they need to know about what their kids are playing, from age ratings to game content, and help them understand safe gaming.

We’re opening up more games to more players in more accessible ways than ever. It’s all part of our ambition to be the number 1 gaming destination in the UK.