UK retailer GAME says it isn’t ending physical game and hardware sales in-store [Update]

UPDATE: GAME has called claims of it ending in-store physical game sales “categorically not true” in a statement to Eurogamer. The retailer assured it would continue to support the physical games market, and keep selling boxed games and hardware.

Our original story follows below…

For years, GAME was my go-to store for buying video games. I would run in every time I passed by as a kid, and getting to peruse it for new and old titles was always so exciting, even more so when my parents agreed to buy one for me. Now, though, games will be the one thing GAME won’t be stocking on its shelves.

According to Gfinity, which spoke with sources familiar with the UK retailer’s plans, GAME plans to end sales of physical video games as well as hardware in store. You’ll still be able to pre-order physical copies of new releases (so my Sonic X Shadow Generations pre-order thankfully isn’t going to be cancelled), but anyone who wanders in going forward won’t be able to just grab a boxed copy of upcoming releases like Star Wars Outlaws or the new Mario & Luigi and take it straight home to play. This could mean an end to midnight console launches as well if GAME isn’t planning to stock new hardware like the Nintendo Switch 2.

As disappointing as this news will be for some people, this was perhaps a long time coming. Earlier this year, GAME opted to no longer accept trade-ins, and thus stopped selling pre-owned games as well. It’s also spent the last several years becoming a more general toy store, in part due to declining interest in physical media. In a 2023 interview with GamesIndustry.biz, managing director Nick Arran said, “We wanted a new proposition that attracted new customers. … Our main industry is in decline so we need to plug that gap, but also for the future to bring in these new customers, and get them off of online retailers.”

Arran also vowed GAME would be the “last man standing selling physical video games,” adding, “We see our place in the market as proving that there is a place for physical, whether that be the collector’s editions, which we see as the vinyl of video games, or the gifter who doesn’t want to wrap up a download code for Christmas.” Although he admitted that he had to be realistic: “We have a business to run and the expectation is this will decline. So we need to fill that gap.”

Even so, the retailer’s shift away from traditional video games has, according to Gfinity, upset a number of GAME staff. Combined with a string of low-level layoffs back in April, with it reported that staff would be offered zero hour contracts, it’s suggested there’s very little faith in the brand nowadays. Who even knows if GAME primarily being a toy shop will keep its doors open for the foreseeable future.

Ultimately, this is another worrying blow to the physical games market, and it’s not the only one either. As spotted by Lost in Cult marketing director Ryan Brown on Twitter, the website for online UK retailer Hit, which has been one of my go-to sites for new video game releases, suddenly shut down over the weekend with no warning. I can confirm the website is down at the time of writing, only bringing up a 404 Not Found notice.

One Reddit user was able to get in contact with Hit, which confirmed it had “ceased to trade,” but promised the business would be reorganised and return at some point. However, it’s been suggested Hit had been struggling financially beforehand, making the odds of its supposed comeback quite unlikely. This one’s a real shame since Hit’s prices were cheaper than most competitors. All in all, the future of physical games distribution is looking bleaker than ever.