GAME not dead - jobs and stores saved as high street retailer finds buyer

The remaining 333 stores of almost dead high street retailer GAME have been bought, saving nearly 3,200 jobs in the process. The company was sold over the weekend to OpCapita, an investment firm which specialises in purchasing troubled retailers such as GAME.

It's not clear exactly how much OpCapita paid, although an unconfirmed figure of £1 has been quoted by a number of reports. As mad as it sounds, this could easily be true as OpCapita is essentially buying GAME's debt, which is worth upwards of £85 million. And it doesn't make much business sense to spend a lot of money on debt.

After entering administration last week, GAME immediately closed 277 of its outlets and the future looked bleak until OpCapita stepped in. It's believed the company has already spoken with suppliers to ensure new titles will be delivered to stores - it was the news big games from EA, Capcom and Nintendo wouldn't be sold in GAME that really signalled the retailer was in serious crisis.

Above: Sadly, it seems the stores that closed recently will remain closed

So, not completely GAME over after all. But this is surely the company's last chance and while making sure its shelves are stocked with new releases is undoubtedly a good place to start, OpCapita has a mammoth task transforming GAME into a money-making business that can survive against the ever growing threat of online retailers and supermarket giants. Good luck to them.