GAME exits Administration

[pratty]

With regard to the RRP of games in the past being more than it is now, I think it's relative to how games are consumed. Few people could pay £65, then or now, for a single game consistantly the way we consume games at the rate we do at the moment.

The other problem with download only is there isn't the safety net if you buy a game you don't like. You can't sell it, trade it, get a refund etc. Good for the developers, not so good for the consumer. As sirclive1 says your stuck with what you buy so people are likely to be more cautious.

That's why I think going download only could really change buying habits beyond the obvious.

[ToxieDogg]

If Sony and Microsoft go all out download only, it'll take Nintendo 5-10 years to catch up, so one less thing for me to worry about too much...

If Nintendo went download only, they'd pretty much all but lose the family market completely. People who actually want everything to go 'download only' (a lot of developers/publishers, a fair amount of gamers) are looking at things from a skewed 'gamer's' perspective.

Can't see it ever happening TBH, at least not for years.

[Shinobi]

The Rent on our local Game/Gamestation is due 21st March so we may not have a Game shop come Thursday.. I see they put the prices back to normal and the Game website is only showing 2 pages of pre-owned 360 games in Stock

[dste]

According to reports Game need to find £180 million to pay it's creditors within the next week or go into administration.

It reportedly includes £21 million in rent, £12 million in staff wages, £10 million in deferred VAT, and £40 million to suppliers.

Not looking good if it's true.

[sirclive1]

According to reports Game need to find £180 million to pay it's creditors within the next week or go into administration.

It reportedly includes £21 million in rent, £12 million in staff wages, £10 million in deferred VAT, and £40 million to suppliers.

Not looking good if it's true.

Yikes - that VAT one could be the worst even though (at 10 million) its lower than the others .

[jdanddiet]

So it would appear things are hinged on this crapita buy out then? Oh dear!

[simes]

There's another debt that Game has had to deal with as well in all of this that has been called in over the last two weeks - the amount they have owed all of their customers. In legal terms, all of the points we have had on our loyalty cards (and on trade-in cards) is a debt that the company has to us. We've been entitled to claim this at any point, but what has happened is that almost everyone has cashed their points in simultaneously over the last week and some people have had a lot saved up (no doubt saving up for some large purchases).

I've seen people walk into Game and spend £40+ and just use their points and that hasn't helped them at all in this sale. They may have been shifting a lot of stock, but it hasn't generated any income. The only thing it has done is helped to clear a debt to their customers although any of the list of new potential owners won't see it that way. I've been cashing my own points in gradually over the years so I didn't have much built up and as I've been spending in the sale building even more up I've cashed them again, but I've still spent a lot.

Just out of interest, how much did everyone here spend in cash (or on credit cards) and how much did you use in points?

[DPrinny]

Cash About £40 (both stores)

Card £5 as thats all i had on it

[RetroBob]

They may have been shifting a lot of stock, but it hasn't generated any income.

So you have seen their revenue numbers from the "Spring Clean" then?

[greenberet79]

Just out of interest, how much did everyone here spend in cash (or on credit cards) and how much did you use in points?

I think I spent about £50 in all (cash, didn't have any points). But it was all won back (and more) at Cheltenham last week! Free games for me!

[simes]

They may have been shifting a lot of stock, but it hasn't generated any income.

So you have seen their revenue numbers from the "Spring Clean" then?

It's been mixed but combining the stock that has been traded in and the use of points, it probably hasn't brought as much money as it might look. Personally, I've spent about £250 in cash and another £20+ in points but I have seen quite a few people pay with just points. Even though they have received an incredible cash boost since the sale started, taken across the whole country and their entire customer base there have been millions of pounds of points spent over the last couple of weeks which won't have helped. It is a debt that needed clearing but as with all loyalty points companies rely on the fact that points will be spent gradually over a period of time and what has happened to Game right now is that every single customer is using all of their points now.

The same thing could have a devastating effect on even the strongest of retailers but for one in the position that Game is in right now, it could push them even further into trouble as they won't have the cash coming in to make up for the lost income for stock that they are effectively "giving away". While there are inactive cards out there, there are an estimated 19m cards out there (source: MCV) and all of them have points on them. Even if only 10% of those cards were active and only had a minimum of £2.50 on them, that's a debt of £5m that Game would have to "pay" it's customers overnight. As I said though, the majority of people seem to be spending more on their cards so the Reward Card debt situation seems to be a lot more drastic. A debt of £25m+ isn't an unrealistic estimate spread across the entire company and it's one that we're all calling in before the company collapses.

[FatTrucker]

Can't see anyone wanting to take on the company as a going concern with that degree of Debt. Seems far more likely any interested party will wait for the default and then pick and choose the assets they want from the liquidators without having to find the best part of £100 million to wipe out the associated debts. As a result the more profitable GAME stores are likely to remain or re-open under a new company after GAME has gone into administration.

[The Laird]

Can't see anyone wanting to take on the company as a going concern with that degree of Debt. Seems far more likely any interested party will wait for the default and then pick and choose the assets they want from the liquidators without having to find the best part of £100 million to wipe out the associated debts. As a result the more profitable GAME stores are likely to remain or re-open under a new company after GAME has gone into administration.

Exactly this. I have worked in retail for many years and see this happen on numerous occasions.

[RMLF]

According to reports Game need to find £180 million to pay it's creditors within the next week or go into administration.

It reportedly includes £21 million in rent, £12 million in staff wages, £10 million in deferred VAT, and £40 million to suppliers.

Not looking good if it's true.

That 12 Million in staff wages, cant be a debt. can it? If they have borrowed against this years wages then sure it would be, however, I'm reading that its for the next financial year, which mean it will be included in the budget and isnt a debt as such?

[jdanddiet]

Can't see anyone wanting to take on the company as a going concern with that degree of Debt. Seems far more likely any interested party will wait for the default and then pick and choose the assets they want from the liquidators without having to find the best part of £100 million to wipe out the associated debts. As a result the more profitable GAME stores are likely to remain or re-open under a new company after GAME has gone into administration.

Exactly this. I have worked in retail for many years and see this happen on numerous occasions.

I don't think your market stall in Reading market really counts Jag