The end of an era: Fans unsurprised by GAME exiting pre-owned business

GAME is one of the most iconic video game stores the United Kingdom has ever had, but recent reports suggest that it will be halting one of its most iconic initiatives—game trade-ins.

Starting February, GAME stores in the UK will no longer accept game trade-ins according to a Jan. 15 report by Eurogamer. This means you won’t be able to sell your used games, and by proxy, once supplies are exhausted, GAME will no longer sell pre-owned copies. While the news is a surprise, in hindsight, fans say they could have seen it coming.

The signs that GAME would eventually be scaling down have been present for a long time, say fans. Many UK gamers who have been shopping at GAME for years spoke somberly about how their once mighty retail stores have been closed down or downsized in recent years, sometimes being reduced to just one wall.

While it seems many GAME stores have now been tucked away inside Sports Directs, others seem to be still running, be it with mostly merchandise and toy figures rather than the games that once made the business so renowned.

Despite longtime customers seeing the writing on the wall that GAME wasn’t doing as great as it once had, company head Nick Arran said that it “will be the last man standing selling physical video games” in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz last year. The good news is that with this goal, despite pre-owned titles disappearing, GAME stores should continue to sell physical games for the time being.

It remains to be seen when GAME will officially announce this change, but for the next month, you can still head out to your local store and trade in any games or consoles that you’ve been looking to get rid of.