Game Retail Limited, which once had stores across Scotland including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth, Aberdeen and Stirling, as well as a further 600 stores across the UK, closed the last of its high street outlets in February.
The retailer specialized in gaming consoles and games but faced financial problems as the industry shifted to digital downloads from physical media.
The business first went into administration in 2011, resulting in the closure of 300 stores in 2012, before being taken over by British entrepreneur Mike Ashley in 2019.
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Despite returning to profitability, the firm has collapsed again, with an administration report saying creditors risk losing £12 million following its collapse, The Herald reports.
KR8 Advisory’s James Saunders and Lauren Wentworth were appointed joint administrators in April and outlined their latest efforts to save the Game in a report.
Game was reported to have owed £15.8 million at the time of the administration, including £3.5 million to a secured creditor and £12 million to unsecured creditors.
The Game brand was originally founded in 1990, but after being acquired in 2011, the company was registered as Game Retail Limited.
Administrators noted that since its founding in the 90s, Game has become one of the leading retailers of video games and consoles in the UK.
“The company began trading in 2012 after the UK trading company and the assets of the former The Game Group Plc were divested,” they said.
“At the time of acquisition, the company operated more than 300 retail stores along with two e-commerce platforms under the Game and Gamestation brand names.
“Following the completion of the acquisition, the company consolidated its operations under the single Game brand and conducted a financial and operational review that resulted in the closure of certain unprofitable stores but included plans to open new stores.”
Gaming store in Yorkshire (Image: James Weeds)
Game returned to profitability, but by the end of the year in July 2016 the firm reported a 10% fall in revenue to £584 million, as well as a 71% fall in pre-tax profits to £6.8 million.
In 2017, the company’s turnover fell again to £493 million and an operating loss before tax of £7.1 million.
“Market conditions remained challenging in subsequent years, driven by changes in consumer behavior including a shift from physical games to digital downloads, uncertainty surrounding Brexit and increased competition within the sector,” the administrators said.
In 2019, Game’s loss widened to £43 million on turnover of £423 million.
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It was later agreed that shareholder Frasers Group, led by Sport Direct owner Ashley, would acquire the company’s intellectual property for a cash consideration in an attempt to “maintain the ongoing business and pay outstanding head office rent”.
“Despite these efforts, the company’s financial position continued to deteriorate during the final quarter of 2025, which has historically been one of the busiest trading months for the business,” the report noted.
“There have been no major console launches since 2020, and major manufacturers have cited a global chip shortage as the reason for further delays.”
The report describes how physical products have changed and that the business will move to launch new games in digital format.
They added that concessions across the country remained open and most branches had moved into Sport Direct stores after Frasers decided to keep the brand.
In April 2025, the retailer moved most of its staff to zero-hours contracts and then cut its management team.
Last year, the company also pulled out of its used games business, its Xbox All Access scheme and in-store pre-orders.
Xbox console (Image: Unsplash)
“Having reviewed the financial and operating position of the company,” administrators said it “has concluded that the business is no longer viable.”
“The secured creditor has advised the board that it is no longer able to support the company’s ongoing financing,” they added.
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The administrators “anticipate that there may be sufficient realizations to permit a distribution to be made to the secured creditor.”
They continued: “It is currently expected that there will be insufficient funds to distribute funds to unsecured creditors other than to the extent prescribed.”