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's The Last Story and Ubisoft's Vita 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?