Game, a UK high-street retailer, has announced that it will be closing its used video game division. According to parent business Frasers Group, the company will phase out trade-ins over the next few months.

However, while supplies last, used games will continue to be offered for sale in the company’s standalone locations. The move, first revealed by Eurogamer, means that a less expensive option to buy games that many players treasure will no longer be available.

During the peak of the game industry in the early 2000s, tangible video game sales have significantly decreased. In 2023, the digital entertainment and retail association (ERA) trade body released statistics showing that nearly 90% of video games sold in the UK were sold digitally.

Along with purchasing new and used items, a lot of consumers now pay a monthly membership fee for services like Microsoft’s Game Pass and Sony’s PlayStation Plus, which get them access to vast game libraries that can be downloaded.

“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,” a spokesperson for Frasers Group said.

“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.”

As per the official website of Game, trade-ins for “most consoles, games, and gaming accessories” are accepted; however, older console titles like PlayStation 2 are not accepted.

This stands in contrast to rival High Street retailer Cex, which has amassed an empire of 600 locations globally, including 385 in the UK, all thanks to a pre-owned electronics business model.

In addition to pre-owned gaming and computer peripherals, thousands of video games, including those for vintage platforms that Game does not trade in, occupy the floorspace of the majority of Cex locations.

While Game gives credit against future purchases, Cex offers cash for used games.

“They’ve just handed their biggest rival (CEX) the entire pre-owned market,” one user reacting to the reports of the end of trade-ins wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

The decision was seen as “a real shame” by Sophie Smart, the production director of the UK gaming firm No More Robots. “I think so many of us can remember not being able to afford the cost of a full-price game when it launched, and waiting a couple of months and saving up pocket money to go and get the game pre-owned.”

She claimed that a shift away from tangible goods was occurring throughout the sector.

“However, with new AAA titles costing as much as £70 when new, and presumably, physical versions dropping in price fairly quickly after launch, I would have expected a greater demand for pre-owned titles and Game making a large mark-up on these in particular.”

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, formerly known as Sports Direct International, purchased Game in 2019 for £52 million.

Certain stores have closed as a result of the takeover, and other ones have opened inside Frasers Group-owned retail locations.

Additionally, there has been a trend towards alternative types of amusement, as evidenced by the space taken up by Pokemon cards, board games, and plush toys at game stores.

Game’s managing director, Nick Arran, expressed his desire for the company to become “a toy business that sells all year round” to gamesindustry.biz last year.

“We do need to protect the future of the business,” he said. “That’s why we’ve gone with this general entertainment approach across gaming, toys, board games and tech as well.”

(Adapted from BBC.com)

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