You know how Gamestop is everywhere in the U.S.? It's one of the few game-only retailers out there these days. Well, in the U.K. their equivalent is a chain of stores named Game. Seriously, I've seen three of these things withing 5 miles of each other before.
Now Game and it's subsidiary, Game Station, are reportedly refusing to stock all EA game releases for at least the month of March and cancelling customers' pre-orders. That means U.K. gamers will have to look elsewhere for Tiger Woods 13, Sims 3: Showtime, and Mass Effect 3.
EA confirmed this, telling customers to place pre-orders for the N7 Collector's Edition of Mass Effect 3 through either Amazon, Play.com, Zavvi, or ShopTo.net instead.
So, a major U.K. retailer is blocking releases from one of the largest game companies in the world, and not even giving its customers cash refunds for pre-orders. Why? What would merit this kind of hostile behavior?
According to Gamespot, an internal email from email from Tom Devine, the Game Group's managing director of Northern European operations, stated that the reason was that Game could not get "the right credit terms" from EA.
"We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business - we will not sacrifice long-term credit requirements for short-term sales opportunities."
Devine also reported gave out a message to be sent to customers who pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 which read, "If you have placed a deposit for a pre-order or are uncertain that your existing pre-order will be guaranteed, please contact your local retailer." Customers will apparently be refunded via store credit, not cash, plus the equivalent of $8 in "rewards points" as an apology.
Shareholders, as you might expect, did not react to this news well. Game Group's shares dropped more than 16 percent in one day after this was revealed.
Now Game and it's subsidiary, Game Station, are reportedly refusing to stock all EA game releases for at least the month of March and cancelling customers' pre-orders. That means U.K. gamers will have to look elsewhere for Tiger Woods 13, Sims 3: Showtime, and Mass Effect 3.
So, a major U.K. retailer is blocking releases from one of the largest game companies in the world, and not even giving its customers cash refunds for pre-orders. Why? What would merit this kind of hostile behavior?
According to Gamespot, an internal email from email from Tom Devine, the Game Group's managing director of Northern European operations, stated that the reason was that Game could not get "the right credit terms" from EA.
"We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business - we will not sacrifice long-term credit requirements for short-term sales opportunities."
Devine also reported gave out a message to be sent to customers who pre-ordered Mass Effect 3 which read, "If you have placed a deposit for a pre-order or are uncertain that your existing pre-order will be guaranteed, please contact your local retailer." Customers will apparently be refunded via store credit, not cash, plus the equivalent of $8 in "rewards points" as an apology.
Shareholders, as you might expect, did not react to this news well. Game Group's shares dropped more than 16 percent in one day after this was revealed.
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