Retailer GAME Is Officially Ending Physical Trade-Ins (UK)

Image: Nintendo Life

Update [Tue 16th Jan, 2024 19:14 GMT]: It’s official — high street video game retailer GAME will be ending its trade-in and pre-owned business.

Frasers Group, which owns the retailer after purchasing it in 2019 for GBP £52 million, confirmed the news with the BBC earlier today. In a statement, a spokesperson told the news outlet “As part of the integration of Game, we will be phasing out the trade-in, pre-owned and Game Elite offerings in the UK over the coming months… Pre-owned will still be available in our standalone stores across the UK while stock lasts, and Game Elite will still be available until the end of summer.”

No specific date has been given for the end of trade-ins besides the 16th February one provided to Eurogamer yesterday, but the services are being winded down, with the GAME Elite reward programme coming to an end by the summer.

According to an update from Eurogamer, this decision has been prompted by the increasing number of GAME stores within Sports Direct stores. The sports retailer is also owned by Frasers Group, which was founded by retail entrepreneur and former CEO of the company, Mike Ashely.


Original article [Mon 15th Jan, 2024 19:30 GMT]: UK retailer GAME will reportedly be refusing physical video game trade-ins from February 2024. This news comes from Eurogamer, which has spoken to numerous staff across multiple branches of the county’s largest video game retailer.

GAME has yet to make an official announcement to the public, but multiple staff working for the company have confirmed that they have been told the service will be ending on 16th February. That means you have a month to pop in and trade in your games for credit.

Note that consoles haven’t been mentioned. After the trade-in service for video games ends, GAME will continue to sell pre-owned stock until it runs out. That means that those in the UK will be more limited in where they can trade in their older games — CEX remains the most prevalent option, where you can trade in your games for in-store credit or cash.

Online, reactions have been almost universally negative, with many responses saying they feel they’ll have “no reason to go there” anymore after the retailer ceases trade-ins.

Eurogamer has reached out to GAME for comment, and we will update this article as soon as the company confirms the news.

What do you think of this news? Do you still trade your physical media in to buy new consoles and games? Let us know in the comments.

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