UK chain GAME to exit pre-owned business

Update, January 17, 2024: GAME has confirmed that it will end pre-owned sales, as reported by BBC News.

"As part of the integration of GAME, we will be phasing out the trade-in, pre-owned and GAME Elite offerings in the UK over the coming months," the retailer's parent company Frasers Group said in a statement.

"Pre-owned will still be available in our standalone stores across the UK while stock lasts, and GAME Elite will still be available until the end of summer."

Original story, January 15, 2024:UK specialty retailer GAME is going to drop its second-hand game sales, according to Eurogamer.

The site confirmed with staff at a number of GAME locations that the chain will stop accepting game trade-ins on February 16, and sell through the remainder of its pre-owned stock after that.

A GAME representative did not immediately respond to our request for comment.

It's a significant shift for the company, but it was clear when speaking with GamesIndustry.biz last year that Game managing director Nick Arran believed shifts were necessary.

"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 said in explaining the retailer's increased emphasis on merchandise.

He added, "Gaming is our core business and we will be last man standing selling physical video games. 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.

"But we need to be realistic. We have a business to run and the expectation is this will decline. So we need to fill that gap."