GAME Sweden bankruptcy ;(((

[Grall]

This is a black day indeed! All inventory will be sold off, all 52 stores will be closed and all staff laid off.

I largely blame Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo for this; running a store selling games is tough when you can just buy and download your software online directly from your console. Well, of course Valve killed sales of physical copies of PC games, so they're not innocent either...

Gamestop is the only other large chain of gaming-centric stores in Sweden and who knows how long they'll last, even though they'll face slightly less competition now of course. It would greatly annoy me having to go there to make reservations of upcoming collector's editions of games I want, and I don't enjoy buying things from scummy company Amazon either.

 

[tuna]

There are other retailers like webhallen, Elgiganten etc. But I think people have moved to buying/selling used games on tradera instead.

 

[Alexko]

It's unfortunate for the employees, but I'm afraid they're just today's farriers and candlemakers.

 

[London Geezer]

This is a black day indeed! All inventory will be sold off, all 52 stores will be closed and all staff laid off.

I largely blame Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo for this; running a store selling games is tough when you can just buy and download your software online directly from your console. Well, of course Valve killed sales of physical copies of PC games, so they're not innocent either...

Gamestop is the only other large chain of gaming-centric stores in Sweden and who knows how long they'll last, even though they'll face slightly less competition now of course. It would greatly annoy me having to go there to make reservations of upcoming collector's editions of games I want, and I don't enjoy buying things from scummy company Amazon either.

Blaming Sony/MS and whoever else for pushing digital downloads is really the epitome or oversimplification. You could also blame Amazon for offering a wonderful services and usually better prices for physical copies too.

52 stores which arguably offer nothing over what everyone can simply go online for - and probably get better prices for physical copies - sounds like a huge exposure in the present market. I'm quite surprised they had that many stores.

Add the growth of digital downloads and there was no hope whatsoever for the old style games shops. Same story as Blockbuster stores. Only nostalgia would make anyone think they're needed. Complete waste of space.

 

[Grall]

Complete waste of space.

I literally could not disagree more.

First off, stores like these don't sell just games, they expose and sell consoles too, peripherals, things of that nature. Console hardware is incredibly low margin, absolutely nobody can survive selling that alone without games to bolster the bottom line. Since so few places sell games these days, not many will carry consoles either. Exposure and sales, will therefore correspondingly suffer. Loss of impulse buys alone will mean a drop in sales.

Furthermore, retail businesses employ a lot of people, who will be able to make a home for themselves, set a family, have kids and so on. Moving sales online to actors like Amazon means there will only be a need for a comparatively few low-wage rats running around in a supersized warehouse maze - and if you know Irish law and general Amazon practices it means horrific working conditions and terrible pay. Meanwhile, all the profits made from this scheme stream to a few one-percenters like that humongous, self-deluded human cockhead Jeff Bezos. Digital sales are, from a socio-economical standpoint, even worse. No human beings needed at all on any level, prices for customers don't necessarily drop either (because why would they, when you're basically competing with nobody), and ALL of the money just goes into corporate pockets.

Also, not everyone has the broadband capacity to download thirty-to-fifty gigabyte games in any reasonable amount of time.

So yeah, this IS bad. It's another self-pounded nail in the coffin for human civilization as we know it. We're sawing off the branch we're sitting on. Instead of a store that offers diversity in a retail landscape, there will now be yet another clothes and fashion outlet, perhaps from one of the large chains, all of which have hundreds of outlets already, or yet another coffee shop - also possibly from one of a few chains.

 

[London Geezer]

I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing. I was merely pointing out that this is the world we live in today and that I wasn't really surprised this happened.

I do think 52 stores was a whole lot and maybe by streamlining things they could have survived. But I really don't know the details and in how much financial trouble they were. Surely they could have adapted their overheads according to the current demand, which would of course be much, much lower than it was when they 'needed' 52 stores.

The reality is that if more gamers actually went to the shop to buy games and peripherals instead of going to huge department stores (like in the UK) or online (everywhere), then Game would have survived even here in the UK - they went bust years ago here.

The reality is that the migration to online shopping and to a certain extent big department stores has already happened so as painful as it is, Game stores and any store specialising in gaming are simply not as needed as they once were. So in today's world, they are a bit of a waste of space. The 'bad' change has already happened.

That doesn't mean I don't feel bad for all the people that are losing their jobs. Of course!!

Those people will find jobs in stores that make money or in fields that will survive (longer) and the world will keep going round. Or they'll finish their studies and become heart surgeons, astronauts, whatever!

Did you buy all your games and hardware from Game or did you go online or to other big shops? And how many other people did? It's all pretty simple economics.

 

[Gerry]

Game stores are still alive and (relatively) well in the UK London-boy. Going bankrupt didn't kill them off.

 

[London Geezer]

Game stores are still alive and (relatively) well in the UK London-boy. Going bankrupt didn't kill them off.

Good! In London they're pretty much nowhere to be seen so I assumed they were gone. Good to see they managed to stay alive. Thinking about it, closing the Game shops in London and especially the ones in very expensive central London probably saved them a lot of cash. And they have the online store too - which I assumed was the only thing that was left.

 

[Gerry]

Good! In London they're pretty much nowhere to be seen so I assumed they were gone. Good to see they managed to stay alive. Thinking about it, closing the Game shops in London and especially the ones in very expensive central London probably saved them a lot of cash. And they have the online store too - which I assumed was the only thing that was left.

Still got 328 stores open in the UK.

Sounds like the Scandinavian stores were sold off to Nordic Games at the end of 2012. I guess it's this company that is closing the Game Sweden stores as they simply don't make any money.

 

[Grall]

@Gerry Swedish branch was bought up by a venture capitalist. The stores themselves were making a profit, but corporate overhead caused the enterprise as a whole to lose money. Venture capitalists being what they are, after two years and nobody else wanting to buy the company, the guy pulled the plug.

 

[Alexko]

I literally could not disagree more.
[…]Furthermore, retail businesses employ a lot of people, who will be able to make a home for themselves, set a family, have kids and so on. Moving sales online to actors like Amazon means there will only be a need for a comparatively few low-wage rats running around in a supersized warehouse maze - and if you know Irish law and general Amazon practices it means horrific working conditions and terrible pay. Meanwhile, all the profits made from this scheme stream to a few one-percenters like that humongous, self-deluded human cockhead Jeff Bezos. Digital sales are, from a socio-economical standpoint, even worse. No human beings needed at all on any level, prices for customers don't necessarily drop either (because why would they, when you're basically competing with nobody), and ALL of the money just goes into corporate pockets.[…]

But is it really a bad thing to not have people doing things that don't need to be done?

 

[Grall]

But is it really a bad thing to not have people doing things that don't need to be done?

I don't get you. I thought I just explained why we need jobs in a society in order for it to function.

 

[Alexko]

I don't get you. I thought I just explained why we need jobs in a society in order for it to function.

For society as it currently exists, yes, I suppose it is.

But even so, should we really strive to preserve jobs that have become obsolete? We've never done so in the past (again, farriers, candlemakers, blacksmiths, stone carvers, even masses of peasants, and countless other examples) and while there have been attempts to resist this trend (e.g., Luddites) they've never succeeded.

 

[Grall]

But even so, should we really strive to preserve jobs that have become obsolete?

Have they actually become "obsolete" though, or is this merely big business sawing off the branch they're sitting on with a mad, ill-advised cash-grab?

Heading into RSPC territory here, but I don't have mod powers to move the thread!

 

[Silent_Buddha]

For society as it currently exists, yes, I suppose it is.

But even so, should we really strive to preserve jobs that have become obsolete? We've never done so in the past (again, farriers, candlemakers, blacksmiths, stone carvers, even masses of peasants, and countless other examples) and while there have been attempts to resist this trend (e.g., Luddites) they've never succeeded.

Let's not forget peat miners in most countries. Coal miner's headed that way as well. Chimney sweepers are almost extinct in many countries as well especially when compared to the heyday of the chimney sweeping profession. Slave traders are also basically extinct in most countries. Cobblers as well are even rarer than physical game stores. How strong is the whaling industry in Europe nowadays, need to keep that flow of Kerosene going! As you mentioned the list could go on and on and on...

Once an industry becomes mostly marginalized, don't expect it to have a presence in anything other than niche boutique stores like Video Rental Stores. The move to digital made those basically non-essential. The same is happening with stores focused on video games.

Although that does produce a conundrum for video game console sales. Other than TV commercials how will your average consumer be exposed to a video game console if there aren't many stores carrying them? PC gaming has already made the transition, but unlike console gaming, there will always be exposure to computers because it's used for so much more than just gaming. Perhaps the console makers will just pay large superstore chains (like Walmart) to carry them?

Regards,
SB

 

[Alexko]

Have they actually become "obsolete" though, or is this merely big business sawing off the branch they're sitting on with a mad, ill-advised cash-grab?

Heading into RSPC territory here, but I don't have mod powers to move the thread!

I think they have. I haven't conducted a thorough study or anything, but I think most people around me buy their games from dematerialized stores (Steam, GoG, Humble Bundle, etc.) and I know I do, although I very occasionally order a game with its collector box. I can't remember the last time I actually went to a brick-and-mortar store to buy a game. I suspect it was over ten years ago.

Time is rare and precious, I don't want to spend mine shopping.

Let's not forget peat miners in most countries. Coal miner's headed that way as well. Chimney sweepers are almost extinct in many countries as well especially when compared to the heyday of the chimney sweeping profession. Slave traders are also basically extinct in most countries. Cobblers as well are even rarer than physical game stores. How strong is the whaling industry in Europe nowadays, need to keep that flow of Kerosene going! As you mentioned the list could go on and on and on...

Once an industry becomes mostly marginalized, don't expect it to have a presence in anything other than niche boutique stores like Video Rental Stores. The move to digital made those basically non-essential. The same is happening with stores focused on video games.

Although that does produce a conundrum for video game console sales. Other than TV commercials how will your average consumer be exposed to a video game console if there aren't many stores carrying them? PC gaming has already made the transition, but unlike console gaming, there will always be exposure to computers because it's used for so much more than just gaming. Perhaps the console makers will just pay large superstore chains (like Walmart) to carry them?

Regards,
SB

Aren't game consoles already available in such chains? Or at least in consumer electronics/hi-tech stores?

But maybe this heralds the demise of the dirty console peasants and the coming of the dominion of the PC Master Race. Rejoice!

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Aren't game consoles already available in such chains? Or at least in consumer electronics/hi-tech stores?

But maybe this heralds the demise of the dirty console peasants and the coming of the dominion of the PC Master Race. Rejoice!

Yes, but they are there because profit is generated from the game sales and not the console sales. But people need the consoles to play the games. So the hardware (extremely low margin for retailers) is like a necessary evil that goes along with selling the games. Well games and accessories (relatively high margin). Once people stop buying games in stores, there's little incentive for stores to carry the console hardware unless accessories move in sufficient volume to warrant the shelf space (shelf space = money). And accessories are unlikely to to move in remotely the same volume as game software. And while accessories have a higher margin than game software, they also take up a lot more shelf space (and warehouse space). So if there is no volume in software sales and not enough volume in accessory sales, then there's little to no incentive to carry the console hardware.

Regards,
SB