GAME Australia Closures Begin

[Andy Chalk]

GAME Australia Closures Begin

60 GAME outlets in Australia are closing down as administrators struggle to find a buyer.

Australian box fetishists hoping for a quick and clean resolution to the down-under administration woes [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/117241-GAME-Australia-Enters-Administration] of specialty retailer Game got a double-dose of bad news this week. First came word that despite the best efforts of PricewaterhouseCoopers, lots of tires are being kicked but nobody seems terribly interested in actually buying the chain.

"Despite the very challenging circumstances facing the retail sector, we have received various expressions of interest for parts of the business, including a number of parties expressing interest in the business as a going concern. We are currently exploring the possibility of achieving a continuity of the business as a going concern with the company's many landlords who appear pivotal to any continuation," PwC rep Kate Warwick said in a statement. "We are also currently examining the other expressions of interest and we expect to make a decision on the future of the business in the coming days."

That ongoing struggle has inevitably given way to store closures, 60 in all, resulting in 264 front-line job losses. "This is a difficult time for employees and closing the stores was not a decision we made easily," Warwick said. "However it is not financially viable to continue to operate at this level at this time." Another 17 positions are being cut from Game's Australian head office.

Game hasn't announced which stores will be closed, but the loss of 60 outlets will have a huge impact on the chain no matter where they come from: According to the Game Australia store locator [http://www.game.com.au/stores], there are less than 120 stores across the entire country.

Sources: GamesIndustry [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/05/game-no-buyers-yet-crisis-to-drag-on-for-another-month/]


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[Sovereignty]

You know what's great for a slowly dying economy? 264 more people needing jobs.

 

[Albino Boo]

How much extra did these guys make by charging Australians double price? I hope it was worth it.

Oh wait, no I don't. Good riddance!

Hmm lets see might the price in Australia might be something to do with only having a population of 22 million a couple of 1000 miles away from anywhere else and having a 10% sales tax. That's the reason no one wants to buy the Australian stores. The market is just simply too small and it costs to much ship things there.

 

[Titan Buttons]

Snip

This, ladies and gentlemen; is the main reason why GAME Australia is doing so poorly. Negligence of the PC results in you being neglected just as you neglected the PC

Well to be fair it use to be big but on one bought PC games so they made it tiny.

 

[octafish]

That sucks for the retail drones. If the shops can't or won't compete with JB HiFi and the like they are bound to fail. GAME has some of the worst prices in Australia.

 

[mrhappy1489]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

 

[Titan Buttons]

Snip

This, ladies and gentlemen; is the main reason why GAME Australia is doing so poorly. Negligence of the PC results in you being neglected just as you neglected the PC

Well to be fair it use to be big but on one bought PC games so they made it tiny.

If "on one" buys PC games then how come the likes of EB Games, JB Hi-Fi, K-mart and Big-W have larger PC sections? And more importantly what is it that they have done differently in regards to PC games that has kept them afloat?

Well firstly I ment inregards to Games sales, PC games just didn't seem to buy them from GAME.
Secondly, you talk as if PC game sales are the only way to survive in the gaming industry, whilst it is actually console games, such as PS and Xbox, that take up the majority of video game store sales as most PC games are bought by means of online stores like Steam.

 

[Von Strimmer]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

There's one at Stafford next to jb hifi (probably why there is no one ever in the store); there's also one at the chermside super mega shopping centre near Coles. You know, I'm blatantly assuming you live in northern suburbs haha.

 

[Zing]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

There's one at Stafford next to jb hifi (probably why there is no one ever in the store); there's also one at the chermside super mega shopping centre near Coles. You know, I'm blatantly assuming you live in northern suburbs haha.

In Stafford? are you sure? I know there's an EB games there but I've never seen a GAME.

 

[mrhappy1489]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

There's one at Stafford next to jb hifi (probably why there is no one ever in the store); there's also one at the chermside super mega shopping centre near Coles. You know, I'm blatantly assuming you live in northern suburbs haha.

No muchacho I live in the far flung world of Ipswich, a land where bogans outnumber normals ten to one and you put a safety box on your hose otherwise some idiot will decide to cut it. I have been to the Chermside mega store and I did not see it at all, though that place is huge and I only saw one portion of it.

 

[Von Strimmer]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

There's one at Stafford next to jb hifi (probably why there is no one ever in the store); there's also one at the chermside super mega shopping centre near Coles. You know, I'm blatantly assuming you live in northern suburbs haha.

In Stafford? are you sure? I know there's an EB games there but I've never seen a GAME.

I meant strathpine... Please don't judge me badly

 

[Von Strimmer]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

There's one at Stafford next to jb hifi (probably why there is no one ever in the store); there's also one at the chermside super mega shopping centre near Coles. You know, I'm blatantly assuming you live in northern suburbs haha.

No muchacho I live in the far flung world of Ipswich, a land where bogans outnumber normals ten to one and you put a safety box on your hose otherwise some idiot will decide to cut it. I have been to the Chermside mega store and I did not see it at all, though that place is huge and I only saw one portion of it.

You brave soul. Well your not missing out on much. What do you have out at Ipswich? Is that where that Ikea (which should probably have its own postal code) is located?

 

[A3sir]

No muchacho I live in the far flung world of Ipswich, a land where bogans outnumber normals ten to one and you put a safety box on your hose otherwise some idiot will decide to cut it. I have been to the Chermside mega store and I did not see it at all, though that place is huge and I only saw one portion of it.

I hate when dirty outsiders say they are from Brisbane, you guys are as bad as the Logan bogans, making people think Brisbane-siders are dirty.

 

[mrhappy1489]

No muchacho I live in the far flung world of Ipswich, a land where bogans outnumber normals ten to one and you put a safety box on your hose otherwise some idiot will decide to cut it. I have been to the Chermside mega store and I did not see it at all, though that place is huge and I only saw one portion of it.

I hate when dirty outsiders say they are from Brisbane, you guys are as bad as the Logan bogans, making people think Brisbane-siders are dirty.

I'll have you know that us Ipswich people are a fine and respected people. Plus the only reason I said western suburbs of Brisbane is because less people have heard of Ipswich than Brisbane, plus it makes my meagre existence seem less trivial (wipes away tear).

 

[mrhappy1489]

I have never even seen a GAME store before. I live in Brisbane so it's not like I'm far removed or anything. You'd think that they would have hit all market areas, not just some of them, no wonder they are going out of business.

There's one at Stafford next to jb hifi (probably why there is no one ever in the store); there's also one at the chermside super mega shopping centre near Coles. You know, I'm blatantly assuming you live in northern suburbs haha.

No muchacho I live in the far flung world of Ipswich, a land where bogans outnumber normals ten to one and you put a safety box on your hose otherwise some idiot will decide to cut it. I have been to the Chermside mega store and I did not see it at all, though that place is huge and I only saw one portion of it.

You brave soul. Well your not missing out on much. What do you have out at Ipswich? Is that where that Ikea (which should probably have its own postal code) is located?

The Ikea is at springwood, which is logan I think, but I too think it should have its own post code, that bastards big enough for the entire population of Hong Kong. To answer your original question, we have a 5 or so ebgames and maybe 2 Jb HiFis, it's a tough existence but I survive.

 

[Starik20X6]

The two GAME stores closest to me are both among those closing down. Looks like I'm even less likely to be shopping there now!

It's a damn shame too, while they were expensive to buy from the staff were always great. I hope they all find new jobs ASAP.

 

[Michael826]

I'm not surprised. The one that opened at my local shopping centre was closed within a couple of months. There was no way they could compete with EB Games or JBHIFI, both already having a steady consumer base. You need this if you want to be able to compete price-wise, and people aren't going to pay 80 for a game if they can get it for 60 elsewhere on the same floor.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I love Game. I was going to apply for job there. Why does the world conspire against my half made plans that I no real deadline for?!!

 

[Titan Buttons]

snip

The problem is that PC gamers tend to buy a lot more than console gamers, but many PC gamers also have consoles for console exclusives. A large part of the console market are parents of kids or teenagers. The PC market is adults, adults who also own consoles and spend a tonne of money on their gaming.

People are creatures of habit, a person that buys games will more often than not buy the game from the same store every time, as long as there is not a major price difference. Because of this gamers with both a PC and console are more likely to go to a store that sells games for PC and console.

Long story short, you stock for PC gamers and you will get their console business as well.

On a personal note, I went into Game once soon after they opened a store at a major shopping center that I live 5 mins from. They opened a couple stored down from EB, the same EB that pretty much every single gamer living within 15km uses. I remember the PC section well, it was a couple of racks stuck to the end of a counter, enough room for about 10 games tops. Half of the rack was taken up by Age of Conan, this was more than a year after it had released.

If you replaced the GAME signs with EB signs you would not know the difference between the stores and that is why they failed. Why go to GAME when EB is exactly the same, but you have been going to the same EB for 10 years?

Snip

Secondly; Australia is not like the USA, unlimited connections are NOT the standard fare and small data allowances for large sums of money have forced many Australian gamers to go retail for their PC needs. Only recently have unlimited connections started to appear at all! The retail PC game industry still has a few more decades left in it before it is killed off by the internet and online distribution. GAME failing in one of the strongest regions for retail PC games shows how crappy their business decisions have been!

Firstly, while a large portion of the Consloe market is parents of kids or teenagers it's not the majority, the majority is adults just like PC gamers. Or do you seriously believe that all parents are ok with buy MA games for their younger kids?

Secondly, heaps of console owns don't have PC for the exact reason of cost. It's cheaper to buy a console and games for it then to buy a PC capable of running the latest games and then after a few years comes the cost of up grading it. If it were not the case then PC games would be the largest sales for games stores not console games because PC gamers are going to buy a game for there PC before they buy a console exclusive.
Therefore, PC games don't really influence the income of a retail store, it's stupid to ignore them but your not going to go out of business because of that sole reason.

Though it is very true, store loyalty is a big thing that dictates if you are or aren't going to look in, let alone buy, form a new store. So of course that is a huge factor as to not having aa large a customer base as EB.