GAME, the iconic console and video game shop, will close its last three standalone high street stores from April. Having fallen into administration this year, The Game Business confirmed that the high street retailer will begin to shut its three remaining stores in Dudley, Lancaster and Sutton within months.
Despite the closure of its physical shops, GAME’s website will continue to trade as normal, as will its concession stands in Sports Direct and House of Fraser, which currently number around 200. Nick Arran, who has served as managing director for nearly nine years, will also depart the company alongside these closures.
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Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in 2023, he insisted the chain would be the “last man standing selling physical video games” and it remained committed to its core purpose.
However, he acknowledged the challenges facing the sector, adding: “We need to be realistic. We have a business to run and the expectation is this will decline. So we need to fill that gap.”
GAME has been winding down for years, having faced mounting competition from online marketplaces, a move to digital gaming and a changing retail landscape.
It had been closing stores as their leases expired and shut its headquarters in Basingstoke last year, reports Birmingham Mail.
GAME then entered administration for the second time in just over a decade in January. Stores in Chatham and Belfast were closed at the start of the year.
The retailer was founded in 1990 by Peter Wickins and Neil Taylor, before expanding across Europe and to Australia over the following two decades.
It was acquired by Frasers Group in 2019 in a £52million deal, following the business’s struggles throughout the latter part of that decade.