After a long absence I felt it necessary to share my views on the recent administration of GAME. Quite simply, they had it coming for a long while now. 5-10 years ago consumers were happy to shop in-store and pay a premium price. However, with internet stores such as Play.com and ShopTo.net offering fast delivery and cheaper games, it makes you wonder why GAME failed to properly catch up with their competitors.Failure to Innovate
If companies do not innovate they will simply fail. Look at Blockbuster for example. They were the leading video game rental service until companies such as Netflix came and made the industry better for consumers. GAME were always playing catch-up. Whilst the high street was floundering, online stores flourished. Whilst GAME did have an online store, their prices were just not competitive enough. Consumers were not willing to pay for £10 extra for a game when they can simply purchase it online. This leads me on to the next point.
Digital Download
Another change in the industry GAME did not address was that consumers were more willing to digitally download their games. Previously, consumers wanted that hard copy in their hand due to trust issues and slow internet speeds. With companies such as as Steam offering a global service, consumers have quickly turning to digital downloads for their next game. Steam and other such providers offer significantly cheaper prices than GAME and more often than not, a wider selection. Consumers are starting to become more aware of the space video games take up on their shelfs so digital download seemed a perfect option.
Emergent Themes
GAME certainly stuck with their strategy but failed to realise the emergent themes in the video game market. Simply conducting market research would have made them aware that the more economically aware consumer was not willing to pay top dollar for video games when there are cheaper alternatives. GAME should have altered their strategy to scale down the number of high street stores and focus on an online store that offers digital downloads and physical copies. Many people saw GAME’s demise coming, unfortunately they did not.
