Oh dear

So I went into Game and Gamestation today to notice that they aren’t stocking the new Mario Party game, and then I read this in the paper so I thought I’d share it. This is taken from The Sun newspaper, printed today.

Game pain for 6,000 store staff

Britain’s biggest video games chain was on the verge of collapse last night - triggering fears for 6,000 jobs.

Game Group confirmed it was up for sale, struggling to secure stock and in talks to find a solution. But it admitted that a rescue bid was unlikely to result in “any value” for shareholders. Shares fell 67% to 1.1p. Experts said administration was all but inevitable before March 21, when Game must pay a £15million quarterly rent bill.

One source told The Sun “They owe HMRC a lot of money. No one will buy them with those liabilities.”

Game chief Ian Shepard tweeted: “We fight on.” But industry bible MCV said he had already told staff to expect administration. Analysts say the firm - which has 610 stores in the UK - has been hammered by supermarkets and smartphones.

A fortnight ago Electronic Arts refused to supply Game with Mass Effect 3, now top of the charts. And Nintendo and Capcom have refused to deal with the stricken company.

Peter Smedley, analyst at stock-broker Charles Stanley, said: “Imminent collapse into administration is a real possibility.”

I knew they weren’t getting any EA games past SSX, but I didn’t know it was this bad! Good news for the supermarkets, HMV, Granger Games and CEX (+ the internet, I guess), terrible news for the people who work for both Game and Gamestation. And a real shame, since I used to work for the company, and do still often shop there. If you ever are in a game shop, just look at the charts - so many games there are from EA, Capcom and Nintendo including whopping titles like the Mario Games, Street Fighter, Battlefield, Mass Effect (obviously) and The Sims. I’m inclined to agree that administration is imminent.