Game Shops Are DISAPPEARING | Physical Game Hunting in the UK

I see a lot of game hunting videos from US YouTubers like MetalJesusRocks, but not so many from a UK perspective.

As I filmed myself game hutning in the nearby town of Trowbridge, I quickly realised that, between acquisitions, relocations and shops simply not stocking games any more, the UK's selection of physical games is gettingh smaller and smaller, to the point that we might not have anywhere to buy physical games before long.

00:00 - Introduction
01:12 - Shop 1
02:12 - Shop 2
04:12 - Shop 3
06:16 - Shop 4
06:41 - Shop 5
08:40 - Shop 6
10:13 - Shop 7
10:40 - Shop 8
11:21 - Our Decreasing Options
12:40 - Purchase 1
13:45 - Purchase 2
14:20 - Purchase 3
14:45 - Purchase 4
15:00 - Purchase 5
15:25 - Why Bother?

[WebstersYouTube]

A sad and unfortunate update: Planet Games has gone into liquidation. The Trowbridge, Frome and presumably all other stores have closed. Likewise, the market stall in Castle Place has vanished without a trace. Two less options in an environment that's already slim pickings.

[boombringer]

The U.K high street is absolutely on its deathbed too, I don't think people realise what a dire situation we're in! If an average American came to the U.K they would be mortified at the lack of everything we have. Its Shocking!

[bigd]

It hasn't been the same since we lost GameStation! That felt like a game store run by gamers for gamers! They'll be nothing like it again!

[_Stephen]

Just a FYI for GAME, although gutting of the last copy of a game is still a thing, they have started to use a check copies instead, meaning that the last copy of a game is sealed and has not been opened. This can normally be found by looking at where the bar-code would be on the box, and seeing if a check copy sticker has been placed over it.

GAME staff are no longer allowed to take games home with them and this has been the case for quite awhile. When it was still a thing, it was only pre-owned games they were allowed to borrow and take home, NEVER a brand new game.

Just wanted to clarify :)

[Galo]

I know CEX get a lot of flack and rightly so in some places but they do a lot for retro game preservation. The amount of games that would have been in landfills if not for them being there is wild. Say what you like but they do have a good amount of stock 😆

[imperiallobster]

Charity shops often don't have a lot of games, however sometimes great things can be found. In a small charity shop in Melbourne, I found a complete in box, excellent condition, black label copy of Metal Gear Solid for $4. And it was simply nestled in amongst a stack of music CD's. I still display that copy in my house, as if it were a hunting trophy 😄

[benmcmanus]

Yeah, it's so sad to see. In Ireland, GameStop recently closed here. You really feel the difference - there's nowhere to hang out and talk games anymore. All we have now are CeX and Smyths Toys.

[TheObserver]

I think the days of physical games are numbered. Due to the greed of big business in the gaming industry I think that in the next console generation or two they'll make all games digital only. This kills the used game market and forces everyone to pay full price for all games, indefinitely. Maximum profit for the gaming industry at the cost of the consumer.

[takerdemon]

Love this video. It’s so hard to find UK game hunting content on this platform that looks at the state of buying/stores, so I really appreciate this video! Thank you!

[Lucid_Reality]

The paradox of CEX when you buy something A grade that is pretty much always broken. But anytime I sell something they find an excuse to downgrade it to B or even C.

I sold a 1 year old phone to them once, with the box, all stuff that came with it, barely used and was never out of a case and screen protector. When they checked the guy said it would be grade A from looking at it, came back about 2 hours later after they did all their checks and the same guy downgraded it because the manager decided that A grade means new and sealed. They could have easily told me that before I had to wait around for 2 hours.

I miss when you could price match trade-ins at game/gamestation. I used to price match CEX trade in, then pricematch what i wanted to buy. Because you got points for both trading in and buying I basically payed nothing for games as a teenager.

[dodgydpad]

Staff CANT take games home with them. I work for game & thats not been a staff perk for over 2 years and it was only PREOWNED games we could borrow, not new. So no new game has EVER had its code already used. ALSO since the take over Game dont gut there games anymore. They use CONTROL COPY stickers for there final copy. Your information is about 2 years out of date unfortunatly. Unfortunatly the company has had to branch into other things like toys, because there isnt much money to be made in selling games anymore. Branching out into more items aint a bad thing for the company because this years been the largest grossing year for a long while.

[retropursuit]

The only high street shops which are doing well at the moment are charity shops, fast fashion and restaurants. Everything else is dying out but can be found cheaper online so it makes sense.

[Dynastone]

Someone in CeX Trowbridge said a reseller went in the back of a charity shop and took all the games there for £20 (Mainly PS2) then took them to CeX and got £500 cash.

[JesterEric]

When i first remember the larger Boots the Chemists were the best shop for computer games. Followed closely by wh smith and John Menzies. They all had literally hundreds of tape/disk games for many systems. In the 90s for PC games Virgin Megastore, hmv and Game. The last physical game i bought at a shop would be when Game sold new old stock Atari Jaguar games found in a warehouse in maybe 1998

[kaneda]

The UK high street in general in is on its knees, it's tragic to witness what online shopping has done to us, all for the worse. And with Game and Tesco both exiting the market this year alone, 2023 has been a dreadful year in particular. My local Game was the very same store I'd been buying from since the late 90s, from N64, Dreamcast, GameCube all the way up to the Switch. To see it close this year was heartbreaking.

[skeletonjam]

The policy of GAME gutting games is outdated. They changed that policy around June-July 2022. They no longer gut new games, instead they take delivery of game inserts.

[Sigurd-r]

You missed out car boots and flea markets. They're still great places for cheap/ rare finds in great condition although sadly nowhere near as great as they used to be. Probably blame CEX and EBAY for some of that.

[Bon-bnlc]

When you purchase a game online you don't really "own" the game, you just have the right to play it.Its like paying for a key card to a door that can be cancelled by the creator if they want

[deltakeeper]

A superb video! There used to be four or five game stores in my north London town in the late 90s – one of them was even featured on Peep Show!

Game, Gameststion, HMV and one great independent store gave me lots of choice right through most of the PS3/360 era.

But now, CEX is the only game store left. And it’s depressing to be caught between that store and eBay when it comes to game hunting. Especially for rare stuff.

[drgunnut]

One thing about game nowadays from a former worker:
We don’t gut games anymore since January and haven’t been allowed to take any games home since before I started in November ‘21. Very sad to see lots of games I used to visit being closed and shoved into Sports Direct/House of Fraser. Game shops like Lakeside and Stratford closing spell out doom for me.
Great video however. Very informative.