GAME has confirmed it will stop buying and selling pre-owned games and consoles.
From February 16, the high street store will no longer exchange previously owned consoles and games for store credit or cash.
In a note sent to customers and displayed on their website, GAME wrote:
“The Trade-In programme operated by GAME which offers customers the ability to trade-in unwanted consoles, games or gaming accessories in-store for credit will cease. GAME will also stop selling pre-owned games and consoles in-store and online at game.co.uk once stocks have run out.”
“We haven’t taken this decision lightly and we are extremely grateful for your loyal custom throughout the years and remain committed to continue to give our passionate gaming fans the best customer experience,” they added.
According to GAME, customers should still be able to sell or exchange games, consoles and accessories up until February 16 but stores “do have a right to refuse trade ins”.
GAME was taken over by The Fraser Group in 2019, who have since shut down a number of standalone high-street shops and opened up concessions in larger department stores like House Of Fraser and Sports Direct.
The news comes as Walmart, the largest retailer in the United States, has spoken about stopping the sale of physical games at some point this year. The move comes as the market for physical games continues to decline against digital sales. In 2022, 60 per cent of all games sold in North America were digital.
Microsoft is also talking about increasing its digital offering as well. Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said the plan was to bring the Xbox Game Pass service to “every screen that can play games” but CEO Tim Spencer confirmed the company had “no plans” to bring Game Pass to Nintendo or PlayStation consoles. Next week, the company will reveal the “future vision” of Xbox.
In other news, FromSoftware has said its “working hard” on an expansion for Elden Ring but still hasn’t given fans a release window.