Not the best day

[maca2kx]

I haven't talked about this much (and not at all here) but the two major games retailers of the UK have been in trouble for a few months. Game and Gamestation (which is also owned by Game) have now officially gone into administration. On day one (today) 277 stores have been closed resulting in 2,104 employees losing their jobs. I am one of those 2,104 and I know several of the others.

I've been stressing about this eventuality for months and if any of you read MCV or check the link I'll provide at the bottom of this post and then follow it up with some extra curricular reading you'll understand why.

So at the end of this week I will no longer be a senior sales assistant, I'll be one of the UK's unemployed: a demographic which is growing far too quickly. I'm devastated but I am proud of my efforts. My store was falling down the league tables when I joined a little over half a year ago and in that time I, with a lot of help from a new manager and existing team, managed to turn it around to the stage that we were regularly top of the area. The town is a challenging one with a lot of competition but I can hold my head up and say that we managed to turn things around but unfortunately, it was too little too late.

Usually when people post about a situation connected to their life so strongly they'll include a sentence at the bottom to allow other posters to talk about their experiences which meet the specific criteria simply to justify the topic's existence. I'm not going to do that. This topic is, unashamedly, a place for me to vent and hear opinions given. Having said that, of course I don't mind if any of you have also been made redundant and want to share your experiences, not to justify the topic being a topic instead of a private message or an emo poem, but to talk about personal experiences with what has to be one of the worst pieces of news a person can receive outside "you have cancer" or "I, Spencer Pratt, am having sex with your daughter".

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/277-game ... ors/093369

 

[Green_Lantern]

I've heard about this, and have been wondering....Is administration kind of like the UK's version of bankruptcy? That's what I've deduced from it, but am not entirely sure.


At least you should be able to use your performance experience to find another decent job.

 

[maca2kx]

Yeah I think it is. Basically responsibility for the company has been taken away from the CEO (who has stepped down voluntarily) and the board and placed in the hands of the administrators. Their target is to reduce costs enough to create a viable business platform and allow Game Group to be sold. Whether or not all these closures and other cost cutting measures will create interest in the brand is unknown. We don't even know if what's left will be sold to one company or several or what will happen once (if) it is sold. If the sale is a failure then the whole brand could go under which means 6,000 odd jobs lost.

 

[Affen]

Those sound like huge cuts. Is there some other company conquering the market, or is it just because of online distribution growing so huge?

I like buying physical copies and stores disappearing like that sucks. I'm having hard time to find what I want even now.

Good luck to you. It's great time to pursue dreams and do whatever you want.

 

[maca2kx]

There are lots of reasons and they all intertwine with each other but I think the short of it is Game grew too much too fast with the acquisition of Gamestation and they weren't prepared for the impact online has had on the market.

 

[MattAY]

Sorry to hear Maca.

In my area there were two GAMEs and 1 Gamestation...the Gamestation being 4 shops down from one of the two GAMEs, whch is a little odd.

Looking at the list only one GAME has been shut down, which i find quite odd that it isn't more since none of them were particularly big stores.

Is this a sign that the internet is truly starting to take over now?

 

[maca2kx]

In the past I wrote an article about why a download only market would be a horrifically bad thing. I was going to do a revisit to that topic but it occurred to me that all I would be doing is repeating the exact same arguments since nothing has changed. The people pushing this stuff out (EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft etc) would love nothing more than to have total control of the market which is what a download market would give them. That's why Microsoft points, online activation codes and vital DLC have become the norm. Thankfully there is still a huge market out there for boxed products, most people don't have the bandwidth, usage allowance or storage to allow for downloading everything. Even though I do I still prefer to have the boxed product which is why I bought the N7 edition of ME3 and have never used the Games on Demand system from Microsoft. Downloads are nice but boxed product, for the time being, is staying (but probably going to be reduced over the coming console generations).

If you're talking about ordering boxed products online, however, that's a different kettle of fish. Companies like Amazon and Shopto have shown that you can start small and get big very, very quickly by manoeuvring online intelligently and even though a lot of people have said they'll miss Game and Gamestation, more people are completely willing to get the cheaper product online because... well, why wouldn't they?

 

[danielrbischoff]

Hey maca, would you be willing to answer some questions for a GR feature on GAME's situation?

 

[UghRochester]

I as well am sorry to hear this news. The CEO sounds like a wimp. Did he/she stepped down while this was all occurring or did he/she do this before hand?

 

[LinksOcarina]

Considering the past month saw a steady decline in GAME's reliability...I am not surprised by them going into administration, but i'm sad you got snookered out of a job dude.

I hope you can find something else. Don't delay of course, apply everywhere for stuff. A lot of us have lost jobs int he past year or so, unemployment sucks.

 

[used44]

that's a different kettle of fish.

 

[maca2kx]

Dan: It depends on the questions. I don't really want to go trashing the company. They did some things right and some things wrong but I definitely want to give it some time so I'm not just a disgruntled ex-employee focusing on the bad.

Ugh: The (ex) CEO isn't really to blame. Sure, he had the helm but from many accounts from people who have been in the business before I joined the company wasn't in the strongest position when he joined. He stepped down because legally the company can't be his responsibility any more.

 

[UrbanMasque]

Losing a job is a $hitty feeling, but like Affen said - find something now that fulfills you. Is there anything that you can relate to future job experiences in the gaming industry - it would suck to start over with something new and unknown.

Question: Was this not a foreseen possibility? I'm not too familiar with this situation, but it sounds like its been a long time coming.

All of the employees posting on the comments link seemed to REALLY love their job, which ads to the sadness of this. Are any investors lined up to save the other stores or is it only a matter of time before they take ol' yeller out to pasture?

 

[Eyebrowsbv31]

What I find amazing is the love for the job; I'm guessing this place is similar to gamestop, and all my friends that have ever work there would love to see nothing more than the place to burn down.

Was it the big box stores that did you guys in (tesco I think it's called) or just a combo of that plus online?

 

[maca2kx]

I'm not entirely sure what's going on with the purchase of the brand. I'm not sure what would happen if there is a phoenix from the ashes.

Urbz - Personally, I did see all of this playing out. I admit though that I didn't think it would afflict my store. I knew downsizing would have to happen I just thought that the store I worked at would be safe because it was performing well.

The thing with working at Gamestation is that it came with a badge of pride. I don't know how unique this is but if you worked at Gamestaiton you knew you were talking for the people. If someone came up to you asking if this game was any good you could tell them with full confidence that no, Rogue Warrior is a bit shite... except for the Mickey Rourke rap at the end. It was a store run for gamers by gamers and that's what makes it special.

Unfortunately, supermarkets are perfectly happy to sell some products at a loss to encourage sales elsewhere.

 

[Lien]

Aye, it's all over the french gaming website as well. Game station had branches there too. They are like our gamestop.

Sad to hear about this but do take Dan's offer, it be nice to know how those shops operated and what happened that caused this.

 

[Mod-Chip]

WHOSE STREET?! OUR STREET!! OCCUPY WALL STR...

Ooops....wrong topic!

-BBK

 

[KurtCobain94]

Sorry to hear that Maca, you're a good man.

I see you said UK's unemployment is growing too fast, a quick google search gave me the number 8.3%. Ironically, the same as the US. But I know the US job market is a lot worse, with underemployment nearing the mid teens getting close to 20% at times, and a lot higher for our demographic, young educated males. Is the UK experiencing things similar to this or should you have a little bit of an easier time finding new work?

It has taken me over a year to find a professional, decent paying job. It is outside of my field and yields no benefits, but I'll gladly take it because of the earnings. Wish you the best of luck.