UK Retailer GAME Won't Be Stocking Mass Effect 3, Other Upcoming EA Products

Game over, man. Game over.

Its sad to see these brick and mortar stores slowly failing. On the flip side maybe this will be the start of the digital era in gaming.

Game has been terrible for a number of years. Let it die and let shops like Grainger Games take over.

I need to ask, in the article title, why as 'or' been replaced with a comma? Makes no sense to me.

In before someone makes a comment about how EA is evil.

If Game and Gamestation go bump I think it be pretty serious for gaming in the UK. The arse will fall out of it to put it plainly.

All you UK fellows out there, was this a particularly good company? Did they have business practices that made you come back, or are they a company you wouldn't mind seeing gone, like Gamestop here in the U.S.?

Good riddance, retail needs to die, long live <digital service/store>!

I've made my feelings known in the pre-existing thread regarding this. So the following is sort of off-topic:

Does anyone else hear Alex's voice when they read his articles?

Slow getting this up.

That is a shame, I'm sorry to the folks across the pond in the UK.

I wonder what they consider to be a "favorable" rate.

Sucks but I guess it's kinda obvious with this they are going to go under.

Interestingly the last game I bought was "The Last Story" and the next game will be Mass Effect 3. I pre-ordered both as limited/collectors editions. I try to give GAME money, they wont let me.

Feel sorry for all their emplyees atm, a big retailer going out of business regardless how you feel about them isn't good for alot of people.

Bad times, I ordered Mass Effect 3 N7 edition on that site but soon as i heard the news I cancelled, choosing to order it from the cheaper Zavvi offer available.

Seems to me that Game is becoming a sinking ship, which is sad to me!

Game sent me a £5 off voucher for a future purchase though! Win all around!

The financial issues currently plaguing one of the United Kingdom's most visible video game retailers are still growing, it seems. GAME, a retail destination that was, at least at one point, the UK's equivalent of GameStop, has been having significant financial issues of late, the kind that are apparently so dire, they have to avoid stocking games they are unable to acquire from publishers at a "favorable" rate. This recently prevented titles like Nintendo'sThe Last Story and Ubisoft'sVita launch games from appearing on the chain's shelves. Now, it appears, it's all but killed the company's relationship with EA.

According to a leaked memo obtained by Eurogamer (which you can see in the attached screenshot), the retailer will not be stocking the publisher's upcoming blockbuster role-playing sequel, Mass Effect 3, and has begun refunding pre-orders. The company has also canceled pre-orders for upcoming EA titles like Tiger Woods 13, FIFA Street 3, and The Sims 3 Showtime.

GAME channel director Tom Devine wrote in the original memo that went out to employees that they had tried to secure favorable credit terms with EA after meeting with publishers last week to explain their current situation. Apparently unable to come to terms with EA, GAME has now put off any notion of selling the publisher's titles in their retail locations.

GAME has since put out an official statement in response to the Eurogamer story, which more or less confirms that Mass Effect 3 won't be coming to GAME due to a "supply issue," and assiduously avoids mentioning that whole "favorable credit," thing.

This inability to negotiate stock for major product, not to mention the recent cut of 46 jobs from the company's headquarters, does not paint a particularly bright picture for GAME and its future. As Giant Bomb user SoyBob mentioned in the thread currently discussing this very subject, maybe don't accept store credit when cancelling your Mass Effect 3 pre-order at GAME. After all, there's no telling how much longer that store credit might be usable, you know?