Game, Gamestation not stocking Mass Effect 3

The woes of UK games retailer Game, and its subsidiary Gamestation, continue. EA has confirmed that anyone who has preordered the Mass Effect 3 N7 Collector's Edition from any outlet other than Amazon, Play.com, Zavvi, and ShopTo.net should reorder through one of those four named retailers.

Though EA's announcement did not call out Game or Gamestation specifically, UK industry news site gamesindustry.biz reported that the stores would not be stocking any new EA games after the release of SSX this week. Gamesindustry.biz also reported that refunds would be available only as store credit, not as cash.

An internal Game email from Tom Devine, the firm's managing director of Northern European operations, obtained by the site said that the Game group would not be stocking any of EA's March releases, citing not being able to get "the right credit terms" from EA.

Devine then provided the following message for staff to give to those who had preordered Mass Effect 3, explaining that the firm could no longer fulfil those orders: "If you have placed a deposit for a pre-order or are uncertain that your existing pre-order will be guaranteed, please contact your local retailer." Those who suffered from cancelations will also be offered £5 of Reward points.

Attempts to call Game's stores were met with a recorded message telling anyone who wants information on their Mass Effect preorders to go to the firm's website--which is still offering standard editions for preorder, as well as the PlayStation 3 edition of the N7 Collector's Edition.

Neither EA nor Game Group had responded to requests for comment at press time.

For more on Mass Effect 3, take a look at GameSpot's recent video preview that looks at the series' evolution, embedded below.