GAME troubles are entirely its own making, says Paradox "GAME has basically been bullying people around and now it comes back to bite them on the ass"

Matt Martin Wednesday 7th March 2012 Share this article Share

Companies in this article AGAME Group

Outspoken Paradox exec Fredrick Wester has said that troubled retailer GAME has only got itself to blame for its current woes, which have seen the business fail to deliver boxed product to its customers.

He called it "karma" that the retailer is struggling to stock new releases in stores and is losing support from the game publishing community. Wester believes the only way to save the business is to jettison underperforming territories and sell to US rival GameStop.

"That's the backdoor they have," he told GamesIndustry International. "GAME has basically been bullying people around and now it comes back to bite them on the ass.

Look at EA and Nintendo, they're not even willing to help. They will take the hit just to get rid of GAME and start over. Fredrik Wester, Paradox

"It's been abusing their situation in the UK for a long time but it always come back to you. Look at EA and Nintendo, they're not even willing to help. They will take the hit just to get rid of GAME and start over.

"One of the biggest problems is they haven't behaved nicely to other people, so it's karma," he added.

GAME is currently unable to stock major releases from Electronic Arts, including Mass Effect 3 and Tiger Woods 13, as well as titles from Nintendo, Namco Bandai and Capcom.

Wester believes that ultimately The Game Group is just one of many businesses that are failing to adapt to changes in the technology markets, pointing to digital stores from Sony and Microsoft as other examples that have been overtaken by new retail experiences.

"The problem is with the technology shift in this industry they're so quick," he said.

"Why didn't XBLA and PSN become like the App Store when they came out four year's before? It's because they don't have the same openness to new content, they have multiple filters before you're in."

For Wester, the App Store may be criticised for carrying too much content, but it's crucial to give the customer choice.

"No truly independent developers can make it through to XBLA. You can call yourself indie but you need funding, you need technology support. At Paradox we have problems getting onto XBLA with the money we have."

"On the App Store you end up with a lot of crap, but you're not forced to buy it. The customer decides. Angry Birds would never have made it to XBLA, Minecraft would never have made it to XBLA. There are so many games that are million sellers that would never have made it to XBLA."