Game over: Our childhood is dead, and the future of the high street has never been bleaker

Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the remembrance service for Game, which this week is closing the last of its remaining stores in one final gut punch to the high street ecosystem.

Those big purple letters, the bargain bin that resembles a warzone, a smell that can only be compared to a teenage boy’s bedroom: Game has been a mainstay of the UK high street since it was founded in 1992. Sadly, after filing a notice to appoint administrators last week, Game has now decided to close the shutters on its three remaining standalone stores in Dudley, Lancaster, and Sutton, according to The Game Business.

It marks the end of an era, albeit one we should have seen coming.

Game is that friend who fails to pick a struggle because, for the past two decades, it has narrowly avoided its end a number of times. It entered administration twice before being purchased by the Frasers Group in 2019, and even then, most of the standalone stores were closed. Instead, the once great house of video games was forced to have 200+ concession stands in the House of Fraser and Sports Direct, of all places, because who doesn’t need a copy of Grand Theft Auto whilst they’re grabbing some shin pads?

So, what led to the downfall of the iconic brand? From overpricing to the emergence of Amazon, poor marketing to digital-only consoles, who knows? Over the years, as games became readily available on the consoles people were playing them on, Game pivoted its stock into more generalised game culture items. Funko pops, controller stands, and figurines became more prominent, transforming the once-great bastion of gaming into something more akin to HMV – God, there’s another depressing story.

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Excuse my millennial-style crash out, but I’m ready to write a letter.

Credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock

People are understandably devastated

For many people, myself included, Game was one of their first points of contact for video games. I first ventured through its doors to buy Halo 3 with my dad, and while it was a number of years before I was able to play the game myself, it marked the start of a pilgrimage I would take year on year to get the newest release – until they closed Game on my high street in 2018.

The culture surrounding Game, and by extension other stores like it, was like crack for preteens. The trade-in system had you feeling like a Wall Street broker at the ripe age of 13, splashing out £40 on a game felt like buying a house, and the latest game always had a horde of snotty kids fighting to get a turn. Looking back, it’s surprising that Game’s display models didn’t accidentally start a pandemic.

Damm the Game’s gone …😭 I’ve had too many good memories of going into that store, sad to see one of my favourite stores closing 🤦🏿‍♂️ https://t.co/FBVvAymBRY

— Baws 🇬🇭🇫🇷🇬🇧 (@blackstarbaws) February 3, 2026

But admittedly, I’m part of the problem. I can’t remember the last time I bought a physical copy of a video game, choosing instead to download straight from Playstation store. I bet most of you are the same, so are we murderers now?

I’m not the only one in mourning, as one person grieved on Twitter: “We used to be a country.”

“I feel kinda sad seeing this. I used to love going into Game as a kid. spending ages flipping through the pre-owned games bin for the right game, saving up my pocket money/birthday money for a brand new game. sad that it just became a Funko Pop slop shop,” another said.

>uk game stores closing
>adobe animate discontinued
>netflix bought warner brothers
>world run by pedo ring
>/pol/ invented as controlled opposition
>internet turned into single homogenised reels fy page

what is happening

— divelostmind (@divelostmind) February 3, 2026

Someone else wrote: “This makes me so sad I feel old for saying this, but people actually will not get to experience waiting outside and getting the game you waited ages for at 9 am.”

So rest easy, Game. Join the likes of Blockbuster, Oasis, and Debenhams in high street heaven. You will surely be missed, because there’s no way I’m risking a Sports Direct trip.

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Featured image credit: David Fisher/Shutterstock