In a statement today, U.K. based video game retailer GAME said it will not be stocking any of publisher Electronic Arts March releases, including the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3.
On the company’s website, one of the largest game retail chains in Europe stated that it’s “Not in a position to supply its customers with Mass Effect 3” although it “may” stock copies of the game in the future. Other EA titles slated for a March release include FIFA Street, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, and The Sims 3: Showtime – all of which will not be stocked either.
Eurogamer did some digging and managed to obtain a copy of an internal memo which was sent out to GAME employees which explains in greater detail the company’s decision.
“We committed to only stocking products on which we could get the right credit terms, regardless of the title or the supplier,” the alleged memo says. “We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business – a position we believe is critical to our long term health as a business – we have taken the very difficult decision to not stock EA’s March releases, including Mass Effect 3.”
GAME has found it tough to keep up with the ever increasing demand in online game orders from sites such as Amazon and Play.com whilst the emergence of digital download sites such as EA’s own Origin and of course Steam has not helped either. To compound the company’s misery, EA is not the only publisher unwilling to play ball, it still has not reached terms with Nintendo to sell games like Mario Party 9 and upcoming Wii U.K. release Pandora’s Tower.
One former GAME employee commented on today’s events stating that the news came as no surprise and claimed the writing has been on the wall for some time now.
“They are going broke,” he said. “GAME had by far the best developer/publisher relationships of any retailer in the U.K., got all the support and exclusives, and now they can’t even get credit for stock.”
