GAME Owner Mike Ashley blames "Near Worthless" Support Package for flailing Retail Chain

[Withywarlock]

Billionaire owner of UK games retailer GAME Mike Ashley has hit out against Chancellor Rishi Sunak's support for British businesses in the latest budget announcement, calling it "near worthless". What Ashley fails to realise, and I genuinely believe this is incompetence despite being richer than God and that should require some smarts, is that he bought GAME when it was beginning its downward spiral and has done nothing to help it since. Customers are expected to pay the same prices online as they are in their stores with no click & collect function, in addition to £4.99 postage and packaging (Royal Mail Tracked 48, so there's that) for anything from pre-paid cards to collector's editions of games.

Much like its equivilant across the pond GameStop, GAME encourages the sale of used games over new (so they don't have to pay developers/publishers/distributors their cut), stocks more merch than gaming software and hardware, pushes loyalty schemes and preorders which discourages said loyalty to the store, and more uniquely closed down its acquired rival Gamestation which was better in just about every way. Morale was low before the pandemic but having to work during it with upper management insisting games are an essential service and not having sufficient enough facilities to sanitise staff, stores and shoppers didn't help matters. And despite their monolithic status as pretending to be THE high street retailer for vidya, they're being completely ignored when it comes to price comparisons when shopping online, as they don't compete at all.

And yet sadly GAME is a huge part of the high street for young people and those looking for gifts for people who have everything. Should GAME eventually collapse and its defeated, ground-down employees lose their jobs, high street culture will lose colossal influence, even if its effect on the games industry today is a parasitic one.

My sympathies go out to those who are continuing to work at games retail, and all retail in general. You deserve so much better, and probably won't get it when this is finally over.

You can read more about Mike Ashley's incompetence here.

[skyfire]

I think rants of the millionaire and billionaire people on why budget not favoring them is kind of useless to keep track of. I am sure he will buy bunch of twitter accounts and take shot at the chancellor and then have gaming community rant like he does. 

[killamch89]

Are we talking about the same Mike Ashley that bought Newcastle Football Club and has done nothing but take from the club and hasn't invested anything into it? If so, he's the one that's absolutely worthless because all he does is buy businesses and milk them for all he can and once they have no use to him, he tries to sell them off. 

[Withywarlock]

On 3/23/2021 at 8:38 PM, killamch89 said:

Are we talking about the same Mike Ashley that bought Newcastle Football Club and has done nothing but take from the club and hasn't invested anything into it? If so, he's the one that's absolutely worthless because all he does is buy businesses and milk them for all he can and once they have no use to him, he tries to sell them off. 

The very same one, I'm afraid. 😞

[killamch89]

4 hours ago, Withywarlock said:

The very same one, I'm afraid. 😞

I don't even support Newcastle but I have known of that twat for years. He even took out 90m out of the club to buy a mansion a few years back. I think it's name was Frasers? - the nerve of that guy!