GAME/Gamestation files for administration
The events of the past month or so are finally coming to a head as GAME/Gamestation prepares for administration. What does this mean for gamers, consumers, employees and the industry?
For the past month it has been well publicised that UK retailer GAME/Gamestation has been facing a financial crisis of some severity. It's been nothing but downhill since they suspiciously declined stocking The Last Story, followed by a whole host of game's including AAA titles from EA, Capcom and Nintendo. We've seen the retail giant liquidating stock in a desperate bid to make back what they can, and we've observed the failure of their last ditch efforts.
It's all come to a head today with the company admitting the business is worthless this morning, suspending share trading:
Following this the company filed for administration. GAME/Gamestation's future is yet to be determined, but it doesn't look incredibly bright. Regardless, there is a lot of speculation as you'd expect. Maybe a new company will form from the ashes of GAME/Gamestation? Maybe not all of the shops will close and a massive rebranding is in order? Will this see a massive rise in independent game stores?
What is important is to understand how this affects you. Discussions have been provoked in the articles posted regarding the controversy of the last couple of weeks and many points have been made - I would either be repeating myself or paraphrasing if I were to write another article on the subject. Therefore, I'm going to highly recommend this article entitled 'How GAME's Troubles Affect You", by Keza MacDonald. It concisely covers how this event is significant, how it affects the global industry as a whole and therefore the consumers indirectly, and balances up some of the speculation of how this came to be and what will happen now. Check it out if you've got a spare 5 minutes.
» Source: http://uk.games.ign.com/articles/122/1221264p1.html
» Tagged In: #Administration, #capcom, #community showcase, #EA, #financial crisis, #game, #Gamestation, #Nintendo
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g1 DISCUSSIONS
darkhyrulelord
I never go to GAME but I wish them the best.
hedges1001
I think there was something to be said for GAME in my town when the HMV just 20m down the road had a better range of games.
theentertainmentguy
That sucks,I wonder whats gonna happen after this.
Simple Simon
This does suck, I tend to look into GAME to see what they have on offer in preowned as there does seem to be more variety there than the new section. After reading various comments adn looking at that article about how game's troubles will affect you I think maybe I am one of the lucky ones as the staff at my GAME are always cheerful and helpful and willing to talk about the latest releases and answer any questions that I may have. The only real upside that can come of this situation at the moment is that GAME are selling their stock off cheap. They got some games going for as little as £0.49.
Alpha Unit
Yup, it's truly GAME over. I'm not British, and I've never been to GAME, but I wonder how this will affect regular customers.
Omega Riddler
Fore people like me who live in a small town, it has further limited my options on where to buy games, there is only one game store where I live now and my local HMV is closing soon so i only have one place to trade in my old games i never want to play again