Not a good start to the year for GAME

The UK’s biggest video game retail chain is to close 40 of its 300+ stores, including sites in Watford, Leicester, and Glasgow.

In not the most surprising news ever, GAME has announced it will close dozens of stores in the UK, with 13 sites already having had notice served.

GAME hasn’t offered a complete list yet but the stores in Mansfield, Canterbury, Watford, Glasgow Fort, and Leicester are all confirmed to be closing.

Derby, Norwich Chapelfield, Lakeside, Bexleyheath, and Carmarthen have also been served notice and are amongst 14 sites owned by property firms Intu and NewRiver.


‘We are working closely with landlords throughout the UK to ensure that we do not have to vacate the 40 locations which could lead to a number of job losses. However, we are facing a challenging retail market and GAME with its extensive retail footprint, needs to restructure and landlords need to work with us in setting realistic, fair rents’, said a GAME spokesperson.



Whether that means the closures might not be permanent is unclear, but like many retailers the cost of rent has been the deciding factor in whether they can afford to keep bricks ‘n’ mortar stores going.

As digital downloads increasingly take over from physical sales it’s a problem that’s also been suffered by US chain GameStop, whose future has frequently been brought into question.

The end of a generation, when sales of new consoles begin to slow, is a particularly difficult time for video game stores and GAME will no doubt be hoping they can hold on till the end of the year, when sales of the next generation consoles should offer a boost.

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