-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
UK Retailer GAME is dead | Brera's Lament
- Thread starter CrunchinJelly
- Start date
- Status
Some excellent ideas on comments on this page. Yes I admit my numbers are a bit flawed but the principle is the same, I don't see game going bust. They will downsize and are in the process of doing this.
Their turnover is in the billions and they are looking at a tiny tiny 30 million loss this year. A drop in the ocean. We don't know the size of their war chest right now, it could be back up to a 100 million after the Xmas period, what is known is that 100 suppliers gave their CEO are a standing ovation after a speech at a summit. They still have support, suppliers do need game too. Some multinationals were rumoured to have problems with overseas HQ feeling jumpy. This makes sense given that EA, Nintendo and Capcom are trying it on as they are rules by the US and Japan.
Much like UBI, they will come round and Game are reported to be in talks right now so negotiations are on going and maybe game will be more humble this time.
Their turnover is in the billions and they are looking at a tiny tiny 30 million loss this year. A drop in the ocean. We don't know the size of their war chest right now, it could be back up to a 100 million after the Xmas period, what is known is that 100 suppliers gave their CEO are a standing ovation after a speech at a summit. They still have support, suppliers do need game too. Some multinationals were rumoured to have problems with overseas HQ feeling jumpy. This makes sense given that EA, Nintendo and Capcom are trying it on as they are rules by the US and Japan.
Much like UBI, they will come round and Game are reported to be in talks right now so negotiations are on going and maybe game will be more humble this time.
Coppertracks
Member
Spent my credit today in GameStation. Got Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume & Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness for £10 after credit. Not too bad.
Popped into Game before hand. Noticed they had quite a few empty shelves that just had offers/console bundles on. Their stock is really running low it would seem.
Popped into Game before hand. Noticed they had quite a few empty shelves that just had offers/console bundles on. Their stock is really running low it would seem.
toythatkills
Member
I've got 1p on a GAME gift card. If they go out of business, will I lose that?
Psychotext
Member
MCV's cheerleading is getting amusing now.
Why is everyone still feeding the troll?
Just so you know, Peacocks went into Administration despite being profitable, because of debt.
Having a "war chest" means nothing if your cash-flow is slowing down and you have debt on your books. The banks will not accept good sentiment if key suppliers pull the plug either. GAME group cannot rest on their laurels and watch supply dry up.
GAME need a rescue strategy, and even then require a long term plan to compete against online retailers and the supermarkets. Right now they do not have either and thus are in major trouble.
Also, right now MCV are turning into a scary GAME PR mouthpiece for some reason and I think need to be disregarded for now.
In a few more weeks you could buy some shares with that penny and own half the company!
I don't see how they [MCV] sould be disregarded, especially since they are posting info from their industry sources.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Exactly.
Extremely profitable bundles. Also...when was the last time amazon made any money!?
Err... last year with net income of $631 million?
glaringradio
Member
Without GAME, MCV (as a publication specifically for computer and video games in retail) will most likely lose a hell of a lot of subscriptions/money as a result of the company no longer existing. Probably a lot deeper than that, but I think the general gist of it is that MCV need GAME and are just trying to stay positive. Doing a Brera.
EDIT: Also, can we ban Brera for being a blatant troll now? When was the last time Amazon made any money? Really?
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
The difference is, MCV get paid for their corporate shilling, Brera pays GAME for the privilege.
J Tourettes
Banned
Their industry sources have been wrong quite a few times in the past. Not that I'm disagreeing with the 50% figure just pointing out that MCV is hardly a bastion of supreme journalism.
zomgbbqftw
Banned
3 months ending 2011-12-31 -
Total Revenue $17,431m
Gross Profit $3,601m
Operating Income $260m
Income Before Tax $273m
Net Income $177m
Amazon are plenty profitable, they are investing huge amounts in R&D for their Kindle and eBook publishing arm which has depressed their core profits for a few quarters, but it is a long term gamble to ensure the viability of the company beyond retail. Stuff that Game should have been doing over the past few years, stuff like buying OnLive or making their own game streaming/download service with a proper front end. EA have shown it can be done with the right incentives and exclusive content. Go into any EA PC thread and you will see GAFers who had previously denounced Origin buckling under and welcoming their new overlords because they want to play ME3 or BF3. Game needed to make a GameLive PC download client to compete with Steam which has literally destroyed so much of their revenue base without Game even firing a shot to defend themselves. They needed to do it in 2009 and sign up Ubisoft, EA and SOE as partners for their content platform to ensure wide take up amongst UK gamers.
They didn't and now they are going to go bankrupt. The board should all be sacked and their salary/bonuses clawed back.
Really I can't remember about any significant blunders on their part, but also to all thinking its just retail that gets this magazine, publishers and alos developers read this as well.
xxczx
Member
I went into Gamestation and Game to get SSX and they both had none in stock even though SSX was everywhere on the shop floor. Don't always believe the shelves!
Wickerbasket
Member
There's a difference between having different opinions and having different facts. You've been proven wrong a few times and it's lead people to believe you might just be trolling for attention.
I don't believe that though, I just believe you're trying to convince yourself your money is in a sound investment.
Jex
Member
Thanks for contributing such informative posts.
I posted facts, turned out some were old and some were wrong but I also posted some that are true and were ridiculed until the links came.
10 facts so far:
1. Game have a war chest of cash. Current amount disputed.
2. Game are having a dispute with a small number of suppliers who have head offices outside of Europe.
3. During a suppliers submit, game CEO was given a standing ovation and support from 100 executives from suppliers.
4. This is their first loss in decades and at a time when the whole industry is down but Game's decrease is lower than the industry average.
5. Market leaders in both online and offline
6. Helped make VITA a success and showed the industry that they are still players. They did this despite having the worst bundle deals for the consumer.
7. Make shitloads from preowned.
8. Have a massive footprint on the UK market, this is also their weakpoint and are currently working on reducing stores.
9. Staff provide expert advice tha supermarkets can't match and supermarkets are not as competitive on none chart games.
10. Still taking pre-orders for the latest games.
These are known as "TRUFAX"
Wait so has HMV been cast aside by EA as well.
-MikePriester-
Member
I just don't see a way back for GAME here.
Not that they will be missed by myself, but with them gone (along with Gamestation) then the Video Game Store on the high street will be a thing of the past, which is a shame really.
Not that they will be missed by myself, but with them gone (along with Gamestation) then the Video Game Store on the high street will be a thing of the past, which is a shame really.
STOP CALLING IT A WAR CHEST. It's an indeterminate amount of money in the bank, which is a LOT less than your initial estimate.
Huw_Dawson
Member
Do HMV do preorders?
In any case, people need to stop providing trolls with oxygen. I'll believe that Game are taking their problems seriously when either the Game or Gamestation in Accrington which directly face each other across the street with no road in between are shut down. They hire two sets of staff, rent two stores and order two sets of stock in for a customer base of less than 80,000 that largely does not earn beyond £30,000 a year. Idiotic.
When Game bought out GS it should have been mere weeks before the rebranding, redundant store closures etc was being announced. Instead they've sat on a shoddy situation for five years, split their customer base, been totally outmanouvered online, etc etc etc.
If you include shops that don't just focus on video games, Game's market share has been getting worse and worse for years. They cannot compete with supermarkets and online.
Zomba13
Member
Yes really. If you're familiar with the menus it's on the main menu, top left hand corner of the screen. It's like the information panel which scrolls through friends stats, and the weekly challenge etc.
Coppertracks
Member
They do, I was tempted to pre-order Kid Icarus with them.
Huw_Dawson
Member
I've never bought an item from HMV that wasn't a £4 DVD, so I wouldn't really know!
It really sucks that this will bring about the final goodbye of the excellent Gamestation, though. That was a decent chain in the past.
JonathanEx
Member
My local HMV's window is just full of Mario Party posters, standees and those cardboard boxes Nintendo like.
And pieces of paper saying PREORDER MASS EFFECT HERE all over and on the door
And pieces of paper saying PREORDER MASS EFFECT HERE all over and on the door
The rumor in some finance forums I've been lurking on is that just before close of business today, someone made a large buy of shares in Game.
The other rumor is that there will be some kind of announcement tomorrow. I've seen Wall St and smell some kind of charlie sheen style shinanighans so expect big news tomorrow morning!
I feel that Game are gonna blow the door on this thing! My plan? Once share price reaches 7p, sell up and rebuy when they plummet again when they announce their 30 million loss!
The other rumor is that there will be some kind of announcement tomorrow. I've seen Wall St and smell some kind of charlie sheen style shinanighans so expect big news tomorrow morning!
I feel that Game are gonna blow the door on this thing! My plan? Once share price reaches 7p, sell up and rebuy when they plummet again when they announce their 30 million loss!
Zomba13
Member
Good luck with that. It's important to stay optimistic.
PairOfFilthySocks
Member
Dude, just put your life savings in. You got this.
Psychotext
Member
If it was before close of business, and significant, it would show up in the volume traded. There were some big trades today, but nothing gamechanging.
Nice
zomgbbqftw
Banned
1. There is no dispute. GMG have £2m less current assets than they do current liabilities (and with a realistic valuation of their inventory and writing off the tax credits it is more like a £70m shortfall), worryingly about £110m of debt has been moved from the long term liability column to the current liability column, that means the debt is due within the next 12 months, and with banks deleveraging like crazy it also means Game have very little chance of refinancing with favourable enough terms to keep the business going.
2. EA UK are the publisher for EA games in Europe. Their HQ is in Surrey. Stop spreading this BS, it has nothing to do with where a company is based.
3. Which means diddly fucking squat. As has just been seen with EA, Nintendo and now Capcom pulling their credit lines.
4. Small loss? Over the first half GMG lost £51.5m with a very optimistic inventory valuation, if they had written down their inventory by a realistic amount the loss would be more like £100m. Game's losses are to do with their shitty attitude towards gamers and (over)reliance on passing trade in high volume, low yield areas. The worst part is that instead of admitting defeat and going back to their roots they are trying to "upsell" which will just hasten their demise.
5. Market leaders in "offline" because they had a ridiculous expansion policy over the last five years which has not paid off. Not leaders online. Steam, Amazon, Play.com and HMV are all ahead of Game for software sales. Game are first for accessory and hardware sales.
6. Vita's success in the UK is yet to be seen, first week sales of 50k is pretty low, but that's Sony's problem anyway, and I expect this will improve regardless of whether Game exists or not. You talk as if gaming in the UK is dependent on Game's continued existence, the board may act that way, but let me break it to you, it isn't. Gaming is a massive consumer market with software sales of just over £1bn last year, there is room for a specialist retailer in the market with 200-300 locations around the country, not one with 700 locations and a business model that depends on the Buzz-Lightyear/Tamagochi/Furby/Wii/Guitar Hero crowd coming in and buying stuff from off the street.
7. True, but it has soured relations with publishers immensely, I expect part of the reason that EA were so quick to pull the plug was their shady business practices which saw Game send out thousands of employees to Sainsbury's, Asda and Tesco to buy FIFA12 for £20 during its release week and then sell them for £30-35 used, undercutting the RRP by £15 and other retailers by ~ £10.
8. Addressed in point 6. Their footprint is their problem.
9. Rubbish. Some staff have some games knowledge but an average GAFer would wipe the floor with Game employees when it comes to specialist gaming knowledge. Game employees know the latest about COD, sure, but ask them about Lollipop Chainsaw and watch them screw up their faces wondering what the hell you are talking about.
10. Not EA, Nintendo or Capcom games. Sony loaned them Vita units to sell in their stores and were only sold under the explicit permission that unsold units would be returned to Sony at Game's expense. I wouldn't be surprised if Sony pulled their credit line soon and once Sony and Nintendo are out Game are done.
Please, please stop spreading BS about this company because you are having a serious case of buyer's remorse. It is not right to misrepresent a company in the manner that you are doing as uninformed readers may believe your lies.
MarshMellow96
Member
I heard some good things about Bluestar Airlines the other day.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. ;P
Dont think this has already been posted, but I couldn't help but laugh at this:-
http://www.rosetintedgamers.com/2012/03/06/new-free-game-for-everyone/
http://www.rosetintedgamers.com/2012/03/06/new-free-game-for-everyone/
- Status