It has been a yr of change for UK excessive avenue stalwart GAME, with impacts felt by the chain’s loyal prospects and long-term employees alike.
In January, Eurogamer broke the information that the model would finish its long-running trade-in scheme and the sale of pre-owned video games, whereas some employees had been moved onto new zero-hour contracts. This summer time, we reported on a flurry of additional modifications, together with the closure of GAME’s membership programme and the ending of in-store pre-orders for brand new releases, as GAME’s technical programs had been “upgraded” to these of its guardian firm, Frasers Group.
This autumn, additional results of that change grew to become obvious, as GAME prospects struggled with on-line pre-orders and confronted confusion over deliveries – most notably together with the Silent Hill 2 Steelbook. And all through this yr, dozens extra GAME outlets have closed on the excessive avenue, changed by concessions in different shops similar to Sports activities Direct.
As 2024 involves an in depth, we have spoken with store flooring employees, managers and people near GAME’s head workplace for extra element on the place the corporate is at the moment, and a proof for why the problems prospects have confronted over the previous few months have been so persistent. All wished to stay nameless for the sake of their careers.
Eurogamer contacted Frasers Group for touch upon this report, because it has executed with its reporting beforehand, however as soon as once more didn’t obtain a response.
“Now we have misplaced 78 p.c of GAME head workplace employees”
“When Frasers Group took over GAME, they’d their very own departments that cope with advertising and logistics ensuring stuff goes out on time,” somebody with information of GAME’s head workplace advised me. “However then Frasers Group sat down and mentioned ‘why do we’d like two of all the things?'”
This yr has seen layoffs and redundancies throughout the chain, from store employees who’ve been moved to zero hours contracts or provided work elsewhere – similar to in Sports activities Direct shops. Others have merely been advised they’re not required, together with a widespread lack of space managers over the previous couple of months, in addition to the majority of GAME’s earlier head workplace employees.
“They made space managers redundant, eliminating some very loyal employees members – as much as 20 years with the corporate in some circumstances,” a present worker mentioned. “This implies retailer managers now discuss to and are managed by somebody in head workplace – the identical head workplace which has additionally had redundancies and been decreased considerably.”
“Because the full integration with Fraser group on 1st August we’ve misplaced 78 p.c of GAME head workplace employees,” one other worker mentioned. “It was triple digits and now within the 20s,” one other particular person confirmed. “In fact, we at the moment are struggling the results of that.”
On a shopfloor stage, employees say Frasers Group sees redundancies as a solution to lower GAME’s wage invoice whereas concurrently investing in additional employees for Sports activities Direct – “the model they actually care about, the extra worthwhile enterprise”, one employees member advised me. Eurogamer is conscious of employees who’ve stop as a result of they didn’t want to be moved from a video video games specialist retailer to promoting sportswear and trainers, and others who had been solely provided nominal shifts, similar to simply three hours on a Saturday, below new zero hours contracts.
“There’s simply been inventory points with each new launch”
The lack of head workplace employees and people skilled within the video video games enterprise has affected the supply of video games to shops, a number of employees say. “The Frasers Group ordering and logistics managers should not doing sufficient to fulfill launch dates,” one particular person mentioned. “They’re simply ordering stuff at any time when.” Whereas the launch of Silent Hill 2 made headlines, GAME employees say that, with few exceptions, nearly all of sport releases should not arriving on time. “There’s simply been inventory points with each new launch,” a employees member mentioned. “Something that hasn’t been EA Sports activities FC or Name of Obligation has been late arriving, or not arrived in any respect. And if we do get it, perhaps we get a handful of copies. I’ve genuinely been sending extra folks away than serving. We did get a couple of PS5 Professional consoles in, however solely half what we had been advised we’d obtain.”
“It seems on the floor to all of us that sure, whoever is within the GAME head workplace now doesn’t perceive what a sport specialist is,” one other employees member mentioned. “The final supply we had at our retailer, there have been no new releases, no video games, no equipment – as a substitute we acquired 136 Zendaya motion figures.”
Eurogamer lately reported on prospects ready days to obtain Name of Obligation: Black Ops 6 copies they’d pre-ordered, after GAME beforehand claimed prospects can be obtainable to “choose up and play” the sport with an added Steelbook on the day of launch. In actuality, the sport’s launch introduced an replace from the chain that it was conscious some orders had been nonetheless “processing”, with no phrase on how lengthy the delay would final.
“My retailer acquired 5 copies of COD, one of many greatest launches of the yr,” one supply mentioned. “How are you going to earn a living on 5 copies? New copies value rather a lot and you do not make a lot, £6-£12 relying on how a lot they’re marked up. When you’ve got somebody working eight, 10 hours a day, you need to promote rather a lot to make their wages.
“I lately noticed six or seven folks are available in inside about half an hour to purchase a sport that got here out that day, solely to be advised GAME did not have it. ‘What do you imply, it got here out as we speak, I pre-ordered it?’ they’d say. We simply have to inform them we do not have it in, and I am actually sorry. All of them left with out the stuff they’d already paid for, on the day of the discharge. And you understand how individuals who play video video games are. We’re compulsive consumers. The variety of people who find themselves then like ‘properly cancel my pre-order, I am going to purchase it from Smyths’. After which they do not are available in ever once more.”
“Truthfully at this level we’d not be stunned”
The Name of Obligation snafu got here simply weeks after GAME shipped Silent Hill 2 copies late after which left prospects with out the sport’s accompanying Steelbook, which the chain merely mentioned had been delayed, with no apology or additional cause given. Eurogamer requested GAME employees what had occurred there, and heard a persistent hearsay that the particular person now ordering the chain’s inventory had been unaware of the right way to course of it correctly.
“When you’ve gotten Steelbook editions, you order 50 copies of the sport. You additionally order 50 Steelbooks,” an individual near GAME’s head workplace mentioned. “I used to be advised the particular person at Frasers Group who’s now in cost for ordering inventory for GAME merely did not click on that they needed the Steelbook too. They simply ordered 40k copies of the sport however did not choose the Steelbook. It was solely when space managers – some that had been nonetheless there – mentioned ‘you simply have not ordered it’ [that Frasers Group realised]. And at first they had been like ‘what do you imply, I’ve ordered it’. And so they mentioned ‘no, for particular editions you need to order it below particular gives’.”
“The Silent Hill 2 Steelbook we’ve heard a number of completely different excuses for,” one other GAME employees member advised me. “The one which comes up probably the most is for the reason that change over to Fraser Group programs, all pre-order info was misplaced into the ether on pre-orders made earlier than 1st August. So info on which shops wanted allocations was gone. Then they randomly despatched greater than required to sure shops and a few shops like ours who had pre-orders acquired none. One other retailer in my space solely had 10 pre-orders however acquired 37 Steelbooks. So all obtainable Steelbooks ended up at a choose few shops.”
“There are inside rumours,” mentioned a 3rd employees member, “actually at this level we’d not be stunned if it had been the reality.”
“Frasers Group does not know what to ship out, the place to ship it to”
Eurogamer has repeatedly heard of points behind the scenes since GAME moved over to Frasers Group programs this summer time, and certainly that is the rationale behind most of the chain’s numerous schemes, similar to GAME Rewards and GAME Pockets, not being supported.
“They do not even have the gross sales knowledge,” one particular person shut to go workplace mentioned, “as a result of all the level of sale and inventory managing programs have been ripped aside and transformed over to the Frasers Group, or the individuals who knew these items are being made redundant. Frasers Group has no background in video games, they don’t have any affinity, no ardour for it. They cannot look again at 10-15 years of gross sales historical past as a result of it has been deleted.
“My native retailer, they have not had Swap Professional controllers in for months,” they continued. “Personally I acquired mine from CEX, saved £20. However some folks need them from GAME they usually’re not being despatched. There are warehouses up and down the nation crammed to the brim with inventory as a result of the Frasers Group does not know what to ship out, the place to ship it to.”
Employees say they do not imagine something will change till Frasers Group acknowledges GAME’s present points – and that this does not appear seemingly, as the corporate’s give attention to chopping prices and employees continues. Some even imagine the one clarification for the modifications is a type of self-sabotage, they advised me.
“The final feeling amongst employees has been that the poor selections, the firing of just about all of the educated employees and now the low inventory with completely zero communication of the problems from head workplace can solely be a deliberate, calculated try to run the corporate into the bottom,” one worker mentioned. “If it isn’t deliberate, it is complete incompetence or determined cost-saving measures that can solely be detrimental to earnings in the long term.”
“I do not suppose they know they’re doing a foul job,” one other mentioned. “They suppose they’re saving a great deal of cash, nonetheless doing properly, prospects are nonetheless coming again. Nicely, they are not listening to anybody.”
