GAME Group: What happens now?

Unless you've been living under a rock over the past month or so, you're probably aware of the troubles the UK's biggest game retailer are facing. The company is having cash-flow problems caused by years of mismanagement, meaning its usual credit agreements under which it purchases games from publishers are being revoked, forcing them to pay up front, which the company can ill-afford, essentially forcing the company to forgo stocking some of the biggest releases.

Alarm bells first started ringing when the company's share price began to tumble late last year, and the crisis reached a new low when their stores did not stock Nintendo's The Last Story and the Vita launch line up games from Ubisoft (including Lumines and Rayman). Whilst it did sort out the problems with Ubisoft, they were dwarfed by the news that the company would not be stocking ANY of March's releases from EA past SSX, including MASS EFFECT 3, only the biggest release of the spring. This situation looks even worse given the manner GAME had been promoting it, with a heavy focus on pre-orders and exclusive rights to sell the Collector's Edition. On top of this, they will now not be stocking Capcom's releases, Street Fighter vs Tekken and Asura's Wrath, only adding to the sense of doom surrounding the company.

Now, all throughout this, while feeling sorry for the staff, I had little sympathy for the company, which has gone downhill greatly over the past few years. That is, until I was given a £20 gift card, which through a stupid series of comedic occurrences is now worth £80. Now I'm involved, it's like an impending sense of doom. I had been planning on buying the new SSX, but my local store had no 360 copies left. Whether this is related to the current situation or not (I'd hazard a yes), I now have a dilemma. Do I spend the money now, and perhaps end up with stuff I don't really want? Or do I wait and hope they get SSX in, before, as I suspect, they enter administration?

Recent experience suggests this is an uneasy situation to be in, as companies rarely telegraph their intention to enter Administration until they have already done so, upon which the use of gift cards is usually suspended for various economic reasons. Woolworths is a notable exception, which may give some comfort to people holding store credit, but overall, my advice would be to go in as soon as possible and spend any credit you may have. The risk is too great for a company in such a precarious situation, unless you enjoy a bit of a gamble/enjoy playing with fire.

On the other hand, all you people with lots of cash can look forward to the inevitable firesales.

Note: I plan to write more in the coming days and weeks about the downfall of this company, and my adventures in having store credit in it, so keep a look out!