Game’s long retreat from the UK high street is finally over.
After entering administration last month, the long-running video game retailer is closing its remaining standalone stores. This marks the end of an era for physical game shopping in the UK.
According to reports, the Frasers Group-owned chain has decided to shut its last three remaining stores, bringing its brick-and-mortar operation to a close. Game will continue to sell online, but its physical presence will now exist only as concessions inside more than 200 Sports Direct and House of Fraser locations.
The move follows a notice of intention to appoint administrators filed in late January. This gave the company temporary protection from creditor action while it assessed its future. It also comes after years of downsizing. For example, there was the closure of six stores in August 2025 and a broader plan, first announced back in 2020, to dramatically shrink its store network.
Alongside the closures, it’s been confirmed that managing director Nick Arran will step down. This ends a nine-year tenure that saw Game shift away from being a traditional games retailer. In a 2023 interview, Arran openly acknowledged that physical games were in decline. Even so, he argued there would always be a place for boxed releases, collector’s editions and gifting.
In practice, Game had already been moving in a different direction. Over the past few years, stores increasingly prioritised toys, merchandise and branded collectables. Meanwhile, key gaming services were quietly phased out.
In 2024, staff layoffs followed the end of in-store trade-ins. This effectively killed off the retailer’s pre-owned games business. Not long after, Game scrapped Xbox All Access and shut down its rewards scheme and Elite membership.
This isn’t the first time Game has faced collapse. The chain entered administration in 2012, leading to the closure of hundreds of stores before it was acquired by Frasers Group in 2019. But this time, there’s no reset button.
While Game’s website will continue to sell consoles, accessories and software, the closure of its final standalone stores feels symbolic. Now, the idea of browsing shelves for new releases or midnight launch queues firmly belongs to gaming’s past. It has been replaced by digital storefronts and in-aisle concessions squeezed between trainers and sportswear.
For UK gamers, it’s the quiet end of a retail institution that once defined how games were bought.
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