UK retailer GAME will reportedly stop taking used games, in a move that might be followed around the world.
GAME is UK’s equivalent of GameStop. It was founded in 1992 as The Rhino Group, and went through a series of mergers and acquisitions in its history. In 2019, the company was bought by another local shopping conglomerate called Frasers Group. Today, while there are still some standalone GAME retailers, many GAME outlets are found in House of Fraser and Sports Direct stores.
GAME also sells video games online, and does some business in Ireland, and Spain. However, it isn’t really a particularly reputable business given what it does. In an incident in 2012, companies like Electronic Arts refused to supply games to the store, a few days before the company went into administration. While all companies will have their peaks and valleys, that EA would choose to stop doing business so publicly speaks poorly of their reputation.
In a new report from Eurogamer, GAME staff have revealed the policy change, although the company and its parent have yet to confirm so. Of course, there is no official end date either, but Eurogamer’s sources claim that they will close their biggest trade-in facility on February 16, 2024.
If you happen to be a customer yourself, you have a month to trade-in your own games. In turn, GAME will sell their own stocks of these older games until they run out.
GAME is not the only video game retailer in the UK. Competitor CEX is expected to keep taking used games, even paying for them in cash. GAME only gives customers store credit for their used games.
But the elephant in the room here is that GAME making this change in business may prompt other retailers to do the same. GameStop was rumored to be closing their used game business for many years now. While they definitely went through some stock liquidations, its clear now that GameStop will keep going based on how their stock performs, regardless of how well their actual retail business is performing.
But then, not all game retailers worldwide take used games. In many countries and regions, used games are traded and sold on a grey market. In many cases, the games and money get traded between the gamers themselves, via online transactions, or meeting up in swap meets.
In places which do have big retailers that deal in used games, there are independently owned game stores, such as Seattle, Washington based Pink Gorilla Games, who built their business around trading and selling retro video games.
But if bigger retailers like GAME and GameStop stop popularizing the sale of used games, that will also affect the market for retailers like Pink Gorilla. Less gamers will be interested in trading games, and that may mean, in spite of a lack of competition, that Pink Gorilla’s business may suffer as a result.
It’s all indicative of a shrinking retail market for games, apparently prodding the industry towards digital. But it’s all too early to say if the fearmongering about the end of retail games is really going to come true.
