GAME Australia cuts 281 staff; closes 60 stores

May 25, 2012 1:22AM PDT

By Zorine Te, Community Manager

Employees and head office staff let go; numerous expressions of interest made on the future of the retailer's Australian operations.

Earlier this month, specialty retailer GAME Australia announced its voluntary administration. Today the company's accountancy firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), confirmed that as a result, 264 GAME store employees and 17 members of staff at the organisation's head office had been dismissed.

A continuation of business for GAME Australia has not been ruled out, with various expressions of interest shown. However, as a result of today's news, the retailer will close 60 Australian stores.

The deadline for expressions of interest closed earlier this week. PwC's Meghan Senior revealed to GameSpot AU that "over thirty [expressions of interest] were made," adding that they will now "need to be assessed" and that the process will "take some time."

Employees will have their entitlements paid via a government scheme that is overseen by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

The following stores will be closed:

Albury
Armadale
Armidale
Arndale
Ballina
Bayside Frankston
Bendigo
Broadmeadows
Cairns Central
Calamvale
Camberwell
Canberra Centre
Capalaba
Castle Hill
Charlestown
Eastgardens
Epping Plaza
Forrest Chase
Gateway
Grafton
Greensborough
Griffith
Hornsby
Innaloo
Joondalup
Kawana
Kingaroy
Kingsway
Knox City
Kotara
Lakehaven
Lismore
Logan Hyperdome
Mandurah
Manning Mall
Marion
Midland Gate
Morayfield
Narellan
Orange
Port Central
Renmark
Riverside
Robina
Shepparton
Smithfield (Cairns)
Southlands
Stocklands Cairns
Tamworth
Toowoomba
Townsville
Tweed City
Warrawong
Warringah Mall
Watergardens
Wendouree
Werribee
Willows
Wollongong

By Zorine Te, Community Manager

Zorine is the Community Manager at GameSpot Australia. She enjoys competitive gaming, eating and winning. Is prone to gamer rage.

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18 comments

Newest | Oldest

joduncan

Well some companies get way to big over time they just should of stayed as games wizards with like 5 stores greed now you suffer.

Drillobred

1 Like

I usually go to the Tamworth store and it was only opened not that long ago oh well i wish the staff the best. I guess only EB and JB are left , EB needs some more stiff competition so we don't have to put up with their rotten practices.

Lord_Jimbo

@Drillobred I wish there was a JB in Tamworth.. its only EB left here.. and Harvy has such a crap selection of PC games.. not that the Tamworth GAME had anything either but it wasnt their fault.. nothing was beng Shipped.. i wisht he best of Luck for Dave from Tamworth was always good to stop in for a chat.

trinest_au

@Lord_Jimbo

We are getting a JB at some point.

Lord_Jimbo

@trinest_au Could work ;)

trinest_au

@Lord_Jimbo

What I've heard is that it will take were the liquior store and Home is in Franklens when Franklens moves out.

Lord_Jimbo

@trinest_au I'd Love to belive that.. but where.. only place i can think of thats big enough is the old bunnings.. or maybe where they ripped down Coles in south (tho ive heard coles is going back there)

BlueYonderBoy

1 Like

@Drillobred EB are the most crocked bunch of con artists. Having worked there (Worst job ever as the area manager through he was some sort of god), I can tell you their mark up is ridiculous. They artificially increase prices so they can have sales (eg: if a game is marked platinum by a publisher, they keep it at full price so they can slap a 50% off sticker on it).

DO NOT BUY FROM EB GAMES. Buy your games online or elsewhere. I wish it was EB Games going broke and not GAME.

ts997

well this is happy days for eb at least now they only have jb to compete with

greensthooligan

1 Like

Wendouree is my local store. I'm pretty sure it's only been there a year or so. I always found it was more competitive than EBGames. Thoughts go out to all those who lost their jobs.

_OneLeafTree_

Went into GAME Eastland today to check if they had any copies of Ridge Racer for Vita at $24 like on their website. They only had pre-owned copies left which were at $40!?No wonder they are going out of business...

Lhomity

My local store made the list. We'll still have two ebgame shops in town. Its a sad loss nonetheless. I've often decent bargains at GAME, but in general found their stock, particularly of new games, rather underwhelming.

I wish luck to all employees in finding work.

burgo81

1 Like

if you sell your stuff at the highest prices expect to close down

magg75

@burgo81 EB seems to still be in operation, have they been slashing prices?

famekiller

I only ever bought 1 game from GAME because i was feeling game. (see what i did there? did ya!) i wanted to support them but they were always dearer than the other contenders and wouldn't budge.... so, money talks. And i found the staff were always more interested in catching up on last nights gossip then trying to sell me the latest Barbie & Friends add on pack. RIP GAME!

wolf503

First Gametraders Chadstone, and the closest GameAus for me was in Southland. I don't want EB or JB to be the only options D: and why are they getting rid of so much staff? >.>

doolies

From friends, GAME/PwC aren't even providing stores boxes to pack up stock.

Last day of trade is tomorrow for stores, Sunday they pack up and Monday they put the boxes (who knows where they are expected to get them from) on a truck and call it a day.

Adie8057

1 Like

That sucks.. I have never bought anything from game personally. But i do feel sorry for all the people who lost their jobs. 281 people now have to find work and its not easy at the moment..

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