News GAME Group struggles under financial pressure

If they go under, where am I going to buy my collectors edition ME3?

 

Oh sh*t! They better not die before then, I've got my ME3 CE preordered with them..if I don't get that I will have a fit.

 

One of the big mistakes they are continuing to make is the dual price structure. Too often it's cheaper online from Game than from in-store, yet they are not that competitive online compared to the likes of Amazon in many cases. Even taking into account the loyalty programme, it's still more often than not cheaper elsewhere. Either they need to negotiate better prices from the distributors or they are not thinking things through properly.

Yes, it would be a shame to see Game go, as that would imply gamestation also going. HMV are unlikely to be able to fill that gap, & if you think the PC game choice is bad in Game, try comparing it to the breadth of choice in supermarkets in comparison. More & more, looks like digital distribution is what the market is demanding.

 

Locally i have 4 places for games...

Grainger Games - no PC section
HMV - Little to no PC section... plus what little there is they keep moving and hiding in corners so you can't find it.
GameStation - Pee... See..? What's one of those?
Game - PC Section is small, and doesn't go much further then the top 10 in most of them but it is still there.

But GAME has been losing money by the bucket load for ages now, it'll be a shame if they go under but i wouldn't be surprised if they did...

... as long as they do so *after* the ME3 release...

 

I've pretty much always found that game have

a) bad customer service - there is always a queue and no-one to offer help
b) bad stock levels - the reason you need help is to ask if they have something - which they don't.
c) bad prices - not aweful but compared to online not great and you get punished with high prices for shopping instore.
d) bad online service - I never got my copy of BF:BC2 or my money back and had to buy another copy.

I'm not surprised they're going downhill. I also don't understand why they have so many stores in the same town. You don't need a game and a gamestation on the same highstreet (as there is in Bromley). Just have one with decent stock levels and staff.

The whole place could do with an overhaul in their operations which could streamline their system to make a more user friendly atmosphere and service. As Landy said above they don't use their web vs instore presence to their advantage. Why not do a buy online and collect service? Because they want to take as much money as possible whenever you walk into the store, which is unfortunate.

 

We all knew it was going to happen some time.

 

Game group run Gamestation too so thats 2 chains closiung, when it finally happens. (used to be funny working at Gamestation and pissed off customer saying "fine then ill go to Game")

Is this a crazy idea...selling USB memory pens with digital copies of games on? no download times for those with bad internet like myself and all you need is a USB port. Would it be cheaper than creating the disk and box? maybe there could be a 'GAME' pen drive you could keep taking back to get your digital copy shoved on, you buy the USB drive 1 time them get discounted digital copies.

I dont go to stores anymore other than if I'm in the area and fancy a look around but I spent many hours and all my money in these places in my teens, good times.

 

Yup. Methinks the GAME bosses have been sitting on their laurels for a little too long enjoying the good times, only to wake up and realise that they've slept through the digital distribution age and are now defunct.

You snooze, you lose.

GAME's staff are kids with very little knowledge - personal service died there years ago.

GAME's stock (for PC games) is a joke - as someone rightly pointed out, it's all Farm Simulator and Sims.

GAME's prices are a joke - and now it seems they're flogging everything dirt cheap to try and get rid.

http://www.game.co.uk/en/brink-special-edition-122150?pageSize=20&searchTerm=brink

Can't believe I actually paid £35 retail for Stink when it came out, couldn't even play it because it was a completely broken game, took it back, got told "no refunds" and NOW they're selling it for...£1.99 with free delivery.

I hope they do go under. As a loyal customer many years ago when they took PC gaming seriously I was in there all the time. They lost my business (and by the sounds of it, plenty of other peoples business too) a long time ago.

Maybe then one of the smaller independent chains will get a shot at the market....

 

Game stores are mainly located in town centres, where the rates for having shops there are incredibly high and now come with no benefit as most people use the internet and stores at retail parks which can offer cheaper prices. They had a good run while it lasted but they are yesterdays memory in my eyes.
It's about time councils dropped their rates for town centre premises as this might change the fate of some of these chains by enabling them to become competitive. Although I still preorder all my games online get them for roughly half price and before release.

 

Purely down to poor choice and price i am afraid. I go in regularly and apart from the odd thing on sale they are just too pricey. Heck even some games that are years old still cost >£20 and that is a crime! As for the PC section just not enough variety at a reasonable price.

I remember going in years ago and trying to find a ps3 game like baldurs gate dark alliance, and the person "advising" me tried to sell me single player games even after I pointed out that I wanted to play it with the other half, eventually I gave up and now I always reply no just looking whenever one of the staff approach me.

 

From a pure business point of view the dual price structure makes sense as the retail (B&M) stores have overheads that simply don't exist online. These costs have to be made up somehow and that is where seperate pricing structures come into play.

The business is probably set up in a way that the retail and online arms are seperate "entities" each with their own budgets and planning. The retail arm wouldn't survive if they charged online prices for games and vice versa.

What doesn't make sense is why Game and Gamestation were not merged into one store type when the take over happened. Having seperate stores directly competing with eachother within a short distance is not a good idea. You end up with 1 sale buy twice the overheads....

EDIT:

At a high level I can think of a few things Game could try to turn the business around (assuming they can agree new credit terms / lending requirements with their banks).

1) Consolidate Game Station and Game into one High Street Entity with an overarching brand that is easily recognisable to all. Jobs will unfortunately be lost but this would be more preferably to ALL jobs being lost when they otherwise go under.

2) Create a new store design/ethos/atmosphere* which provides more emphasis towards Gamers selling games to Gamers. More effort needs to be made at the retail level to attract people to spend more on the game retail than online. They need to realise they can't compete with online pricing so they need to offer a MUCH better service. Hopefully this idea would also create new positions that could be filled by people who lost their jobs in point 1 above.

3) Introduce a new pricing structure that is much more competetive both at Retail and online levels. Whether this achieved through sticker prices or more regular sales would need to be ironed out.

Overall the transition would be painful but neccessary to ensure their survival on the high street. As I say in my first point; some job loses are much better than everyone losing their jobs if Game doesn't adapt.

Alas it will literally come down to three simple words: Adapt or die. I just hope Game chooses the former.

 

Game = For Console-fags, Staffed by Console-fags.

I won't miss it at all.

 

As a specialist gaming store you'd expect a good selection of games and cheap prices.

Unfortunately what you get is extortionate prices and a poor selection of pc titles.

Top it off by staff who are not interested in what they sell and you arrive at this juncture.

I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner.

Sent from my SGS II using Tapatalk

 

Whilst it's bad news indeed for the people who work there I can't say I am sorry to see it go. Game have always been a joke as far as PC centric gamers are concerned, they are a dinosaur, stuck in the past and this has been a long time coming.

 

The problem with Game as people have said is that they do not stock PC games. Also they have "preorder" when the games have already come out. r3loaded you hit the mark with the never ending Sims expansions...

 

Game offer nothing more than a convenience when i cannot be bothered to wait for downloads or for titles to be released on steam. There is nothing that makes me want to shop there other than their proximity @ 300m

 

Bromley used to have 2 Games and a Gamestation. And the 2 Game shops were a 2 min walk apart lol.

And hello local person!!!

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The reason Game has a small section for PC games (or any shop for that matter) is that there is more demand for console games in general. From their perspective having a big PC section would be wasted space. Especially when you can buy PC games from them online and often at a cheaper price. And a PC gamer would know that.

 

I agree with the consensus here; it's a shame that people are facing late or missing salaries & even more so that jobs will be lost.
But GAME are a terrible company who I've refused to support for years now. They ruined Gamestation, destroyed what I would consider to be collectors items, they (under Gamestop) put unethical pressure on publishers to limit digital sales & product promotion &, as the primary face of gaming on the high street, have been instrumental in reducing the public face of PC gaming in the UK for the last handful of years. Combined with rip-off pricing & frequently unhelpful/misleading sales staff they've become somewhat of a travesty. Unless they suddenly take a radical new direction then I'd be glad to see them gone entirely.

 

Yeah I remember I used to go from one to the next to get the best price when I was selling my second hand games.

So there are other people from bromley on here. Good times.