GAME, the UK’s leading high street video game retailer, is set to discontinue its video game trade-in service starting from 16th February, as reported by Eurogamer. This decision was confirmed after Eurogamer’s team corroborated the information with various GAME store branches across the country. The retailer’s staff were informed of this change, and Eurogamer is seeking further details from GAME.
While GAME hasn’t officially announced this change yet, customers currently have about a month left to trade in their physical games at local GAME stores. GAME’s website indicates that they accept “most consoles, games and gaming accessories,” excluding “retro” items like PlayStation 2 era games and older.
Trade-ins at GAME are compensated with store credit or a gift card, differing from CEX, another major UK retailer that deals in pre-owned video games and offers cash options for trade-ins.
Nick Arran, the company boss, expressed last year to Eurogamer’s sister site GamesIndustry.biz that GAME is committed to being the “last man standing” in selling physical video games. He highlighted the importance of physical editions in the market, drawing parallels to collector’s editions as the “vinyl of video games.”
Alongside video games, GAME has also expanded its product range to include toys, like Lego sets and trading cards. Since being acquired by the Frasers Group in 2019 for £52 million, GAME has experienced changes in its store network. This includes the closure of some standalone stores and the opening of new ones within other Frasers Group outlets, such as Sports Direct and House of Fraser, bringing GAME’s nationwide trading locations to over 300.
