In April 1990, Game was founded by Peter Wickins and Neil Taylor who wanted to exploit the growing market for entertainment software and hardware.[16] Initial growth was funded by the Taylor family and venture capital investors.
In November 1999, the British franchisee of Electronics Boutique purchased Game for £99 million; it had been formed in October 1995 by acquiring and rebranding the Future Zone retailer.[17] Game had 86 stores at the time of the takeover, and the Game brand would be retained by the franchisee, trading alongside the Electronics Boutique name.[18]
In April 2002, as the franchisee moved away from Electronics Boutique, all of its stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland would be rebranded as Game, and the parent company name was changed to The Game Group.[19] Despite the name change, a 1% sales royalty to Electronics Boutique in the United States continued to be paid until January 2006. Attempts to have this overturned in court in February 2003 were unsuccessful.[20]
In July 2004, the Game group acquired Gameplay (GB) Limited, an online and mail order retailer of video games, computer software and associated products.[21] Gameplay (GB) Ltd started trading as Game.co.uk, the group's main online arm in the United Kingdom.[22]
In September 2006, Game acquired Australian speciality video games retailer Gameswizards for A$3.8 million and rebranded all Gameswizards outlets as Game stores.[23]
In May 2007, the company announced the acquisition of rival specialist video game chain Gamestation for £74 million. The company stated that they intended to retain the brand.[24] On 21 April 2010, Lisa Morgan stepped down as CEO, to be replaced by Chris Bell as interim CEO.[25] On 17 June 2010, it was announced that Ian Shepherd had been appointed as CEO, and took up the position on 28 June.[26]
Financial problems
On 29 February 2012, it was announced that both Game and Gamestation would no longer stock new titles from Electronic Arts. This was due to the major games distributor limiting Game's credit terms.[27] This affected the pre-orders of Mass Effect 3, due out the following week.[28] On 5 March 2012, it was announced that Game and Gamestation stores would not be stocking titles by Capcom. The first title affected by the move was Street Fighter X Tekken. Customers who pre-ordered the special edition from either store were refunded.[29] Other suppliers, including publishers Nintendo and Capcom, also refused to supply their latest products due to concerns over Game's creditworthiness.[30][31]
OpCapita rescue
The company entered administration on 26 March 2012, with PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed and Ian Shepherd stepping down as CEO. No administrator was appointed for the stores in Ireland and redundancies were only offered to staff in the United Kingdom, resulting in a continuing protest from Irish staff. 277 of Game's 609 stores in the United Kingdom were closed immediately, resulting in 2,104 job losses.[37][38]
On 31 March 2012, Game Group was purchased out of administration by OpCapita.[39] David Hamid was announced as the new executive chairman of Game.[40]
On 14 May 2012, TGW Pty Ltd, trading as Game Australia announced it would also enter administration.[41] On 25 May 2012, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the administrators of Game Australia made 264 staff redundant and closed 60 stores.
Frasers Group purchase
In June 2019, OpCapita agreed to a takeover of Game by Frasers Group for £52 million.[1] Game had 540 stores in the UK and Spain when the takeover was completed.[50]
Game has re-entered the Irish market as of December 2023, inside of a Sports Direct in Roscommon.[51]
In January 2024, the retailer announced it would phase out trade-ins and pre-owned games by February.[52]
In June 2024, the retailer announced it would be ending its reward point scheme by the following month.[53]
In March 2025, Game Stores Iberia, consisting of Spanish operations of 220 stores, was sold by Frasers Group to GuideBridge Capital; the stores continue to trade as Game.
