GAME Retail owed almost £16m when it fell into administration, as it struggled against digital downloads, intensifying competition and Brexit-related uncertainty.

Administrators’ documents show that the former high street mainstay had liabilities of approximately £15.8m, including around £12m owed to unsecured creditors.

GAME Retail Limited formally entered administration on 24 February, with James Saunders and Lauren Wentworth of KR8 Advisory appointed as joint administrators.

The administrators said trading had been hit by changing consumer behaviour, including shoppers moving away from physical games towards digital downloads, alongside increased competition and uncertainty associated with Brexit.

The decline marked a dramatic reversal for GAME, which once operated around 300 stores across the UK and was one of the country’s biggest specialist gaming retailers.

Its final standalone stores in Dudley, Lancaster and Sutton subsequently closed, bringing an end to the brand’s independent presence on UK high streets.

However, the GAME brand continues to trade online and through concessions inside Frasers Group stores, including Sports Direct and House of Fraser.

Frasers Group acquired GAME’s parent company in a deal valued at approximately £52m in 2019 and had increasingly integrated the gaming retailer into its wider store estate.

GAME had already scaled back several of its traditional services before the administration, including ending its trade-in operation and closing its loyalty scheme, as the retailer shifted its focus towards toys, collectibles and gaming merchandise.

The administration is the second major collapse in GAME’s history, after the retailer previously fell into administration in 2012 before being rescued.

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