UK retailer GAME has been facing some business hardships as of late, and unfortunately it looks like their issues will be spilling over into the Mass Effect 3 launch.
Eurogamer confirmed earlier today that BioWare’s highly anticipated RPG will not be stocked at GAME stores, pointing out that gamers who have pre-ordered the title through GAME will receive a full refund alongside £5 of reward points. Check out the full statement from the retailer below:
We currently have a supply issue with regards to Mass Effect 3, which means that GAME and gamestation will not be able to fulfil orders for Mass Effect 3 at this time. We want to give customers as much notice about this as possible and provide them with a range of options ahead of launch.
We appreciate that this is disappointing for our customers, and we apologise sincerely for the inconvenience that this will cause. We value the loyalty of our customers very highly and as a gesture of goodwill we are providing the following:
- Customers who have pre-ordered in store, will have the opportunity to add £5 worth of Reward points to their card if they visit us from 1st March through to 16th March 2012.
- Customers who have placed a deposit for the title* will receive a refund as well as the £5 worth of Reward points between 1st – 16th March 2012.
- Customers who have pre-ordered online, will be provided with an online voucher to the value of £5 to be spent on any purchase on our sites.
For more information we would advise customers to visit EA www.ea.com/uk/masseffect3update on how to get hold of Mass Effect 3.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there, as SSX has been confirmed to be the last title published by Electronic Arts to grace GAME store shelves in the foreseeable future. IGN has since released a memo from Tom Devine, the UK channel director for GAME. The memo reads as follows:
We committed to only stocking products on which we could get the right credit terms, regardless of the title or the supplier. We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business – we will not sacrifice long-term credit requirements for short term sales opportunities.
As a result of us taking this position – a position that we believe is critical to our long term health as a business – we have taken the very difficult decision to not stock EA’s March releases, including Mass Effect 3.
As a specialist retailed dedicated to games and gaming, it is never easy to make a decision not to stock a title, particularly one with such a strong fan base. But it is imperative that we treat every supplier evenly, that we stick to our commitments, and tar we didn’t sign up to payment terms that will hamper us further in the future.
[Via]
