Game (retailer) facts for kids
|
Trade name
|
GAME; Game Digital |
|---|---|
|
Formerly
|
Rhino Group |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Gaming |
| Founded | 1992 (as Rhino Group) |
| Founder | Terry Norris Bev Ripley |
|
Number of locations
|
250+ |
|
Area served
|
United Kingdom Spain Ireland |
|
Key people
|
Nick Arran (CEO) |
| Products | Game consoles Video games Accessories Mobile phones |
|
Number of employees
|
1990+ |
| Parent |
|
GAME Retail Limited, known simply as GAME, is a popular British store that sells video games. It is owned by a company called Frasers Group since June 2019.
GAME started way back in 1992 as the Rhino Group, founded by Terry Norris and Bev Ripley. Over the years, it grew by joining with and buying other game stores. In 1999, it was bought by Electronics Boutique Limited, which then changed its name to The Game Group. The company kept growing, even buying stores in Australia. In 2007, it bought its main rival, Gamestation.
In 2012, GAME faced some tough times. Some big game makers like Nintendo and Electronic Arts stopped sending their new games because they were worried about GAME's finances. This led to GAME going into a special process called "administration" on March 26, 2012. A week later, a company called OpCapita bought GAME.
In June 2019, GAME was bought by Frasers Group for £52 million. Since then, many standalone GAME stores have closed. Instead, you can now find GAME sections inside other stores like House of Fraser and Sports Direct. GAME has also focused more on its online store.
Contents
The Story of GAME
How GAME Started
The company we know as GAME began in 1992. It was first called Rhino Group and had stores named Future Zone. Before that, in 1990, another company also named Game was started by Peter Wickins and Neil Taylor. The Rhino Group bought Virgin Games Stores in 1993, which made them have 77 stores in total.
In 1995, a gaming store called Electronics Boutique bought a part of the Rhino Group. The Rhino Group then changed its name to Electronics Boutique Limited.
In November 1999, Electronics Boutique Limited bought the chain of stores called Game for £99 million. At that time, Game had 86 stores. Later, in 2001, Electronics Boutique Limited also bought an online gaming service called BarrysWorld and game stores in France and Spain.
In 2002, all Electronics Boutique stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland changed their names to Game. The company itself also changed its name to The Game Group. Even with the name change, they still paid a small fee to Electronics Boutique in the United States until 2006.
In July 2004, The Game Group bought Gameplay (GB) Limited. This company sold video games and software online and through mail order. Gameplay (GB) Ltd then became Game.co.uk, which is GAME's main online store in the UK.
In September 2006, GAME bought an Australian video game store called Gameswizards. All Gameswizards stores then became Game stores.
In May 2007, the company announced it was buying its rival game store, Gamestation, for £74 million. They said they planned to keep the Gamestation brand.
Financial Challenges
In February 2012, GAME and Gamestation announced they would no longer sell new games from Electronic Arts. This happened because the game distributor limited how much credit GAME could use. This affected popular games like Mass Effect 3. On March 5, 2012, it was also announced that GAME and Gamestation would not sell games from Capcom, including Street Fighter X Tekken. Customers who had pre-ordered these games received refunds.
In early March 2012, GAME and Gamestation started selling their stock at very low prices. They did this to try and get more money before potentially going into administration.
On March 14, 2012, OpCapita tried to buy the company but was not successful. Microsoft and Activision also stopped supplying their products to GAME on March 15. On March 19, the company's shares were temporarily stopped from being traded on the London Stock Exchange.
Going into Administration
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The company officially went into administration on March 26, 2012. This meant that experts from PricewaterhouseCoopers took over to manage the company's problems. Ian Shepherd, the CEO, stepped down. Many of GAME's stores in the United Kingdom, 277 out of 609, closed right away. This meant 2,104 people lost their jobs.
On March 31, 2012, OpCapita bought The Game Group out of administration. David Hamid became the new leader of GAME.
In May 2012, Game Australia also went into administration. By June 2012, most of its stores had closed, marking the end of Game Australia.
GAME's stores in Sweden and Norway were bought by Nordic Games in May 2012. However, these stores also faced problems and eventually closed down in the summer of 2015.
New Ownership
In June 2019, Game Digital agreed to be bought by Frasers Group for £52 million. At the time, GAME had 540 stores in the UK and Spain.
In January 2024, GAME announced it would stop buying and selling used games by February. Out of its 363 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland, 64 are standalone stores.
In June 2024, the company announced it would end its reward point scheme by the following month.
In April 2025, GAME's main office in Basingstoke closed down.
How GAME Works Today
As of May 2023, GAME has 240 stores in the United Kingdom. GAME also returned to the Irish market in December 2023, with a section inside a Sports Direct store in Roscommon.
GAME stores sell games for all major video game systems. They used to sell "preowned" games, which were used games that customers traded in for cash or store credit. The company also runs its online store, Game.co.uk.
Insomnia Gaming Festival
Insomnia Gaming Festival is a huge gaming event run by GAME's sub-brand, Player1 Events. It has a main stage, an Expo Hall, and a very large LAN (Local Area Network) event, which is the biggest in the UK. It started as a PC gaming event but now includes console gamers too. These events, called the 'iSeries', happen three times a year, usually around Easter, August, and November.
The festival has moved to different locations over the years, including Newbury Racecourse and The Telford International Centre. Since i56 in December 2015, it has been held at the NEC in Birmingham because it has grown so much. These events now include professional gaming tournaments and large exhibition halls. Popular parts of the festival include shows on the main stage by special guests, often famous YouTube personalities, and evening fun like the "World Famous Insomnia Pub Quiz." Sometimes called "The Glastonbury of Gaming," Insomnia is still the biggest festival of its kind in the UK. The very first Insomnia event in 1999 had 300 players and was the largest LAN party in the United Kingdom at that time.
Fun Games from GAME
GAME has also published some fun, free video games. One was called Christmas Shopper Simulator, and it even got a sequel called Christmas Shopper 2: Black Friday.
Other Gaming Stores
- GameStop
- Gamestation
- CeX
