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The UK retailer GAME is going to stop selling pre-owned video game software soon, according to a report by Eurogamer, which has since been corroborated by BBC News.
“As part of the integration of GAME, we will be phasing out the trade-in, pre-owned and GAME Elite offerings in the UK over the coming months,” said a representative of Frasers Group, the company that owns GAME.
“Pre-owned will still be available in our standalone stores across the UK while stock lasts, and Game Elite will still be available until the end of summer.”
GAME was acquired in 2019 for £52 million by Frasers Group, at which time it was previously known as Sports Direct International. It also owns other companies such as House of Fraser and Evans Cycles, as well as non-controlling interest shares in Debenhams and French Connection.
At the time, the firm told BBC News that it did not believe GAME would be “able to weather the pressures that it is facing” in the specialist games retail market without its assistance.
Several GAME stores closed up shop altogether following the acquisition, with the brand instead taking up floor space inside of shops like Sports Direct and House of Fraser, with a wider focus on toys, merchandise and tabletop games. It is believed that these moves are part of the reasoning behind the push away from pre-owned games, as they currently require a separate till, with systems and databases that have not been (and now may never be) migrated over.
GAME’s main high street rival CEX will continue to operate in over 385 high street stores in the UK, all of which deal exclusively in pre-owned electronics, games and other media.
