GAME Will Not Be Stocking Mass Effect 3 On Release, Pre-Orders Cancelled
Game Group’s future as a major high-street videogame retailer is looking ever more worrying as reports have emerged today that the retailer will not be stocking any of EA Games’ March releases immediately following the European release of SSX this Friday. Crucially – and perhaps foretelling of what is to come for the company – that will mean no store shelving will be reserved for EA and Bioware’s trilogy-closer Mass Effect 3, the biggest and most noteworthy game of the year so far.
Is This The Beginning Of The End For Videogames’ High Street Presence?
Questions are being raised this week about the future of GAME after a number of reports have arisen that indicates the specialist videogame high-street retailer is struggling to stock newer games following a number of its credit agencies withdrawing credit insurance on behalf of the chain. GAME is now having to pay for new stock of games up front if it chooses to sell them, something it has now had to rely on until now. There were serious concerns earlier this week that GAME would fail to have Friday’s triple-A releases (Final Fantasy XIII-2, Soul Calibur V, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection) on store shelves as a result, while concerns over the company’s long-term future meant Sony’s long-awaited portable successor to the PSP, the PlayStation Vita, was also rumoured to be following suit.