Game Group goes into administration

Britain's biggest video game retailer, Game Group, has gone into administration.

It means there are serious doubts about the jobs of the staff at its 1,300 stores, 600 of which are in the UK.

The administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers said that the retailer had suffered from high fixed costs and an ambitious international expansion.

Its business has been hit by competition from online-only retailers.

"Despite these challenges, we believe that there is room for a specialist game retailer in the territories in which it operates, including its biggest one, the UK," said one of the administrators, Mike Jervis.

"As a result, we are hopeful that a going concern sale of the business is achievable."

Game Group employs 385 staff at its headquarters in Basingstoke in Hampshire, and about 5,100 in its stores in the UK and Ireland.

About another 5,000 staff are employed at Game's other stores, which are located in France, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia and Australia.

"This decision is taken after careful consideration and ceaseless interrogation of every possible alternative," Game Group said.

The stores operate under the Game brand, as well as Gamestation. Online it also operates as Gameplay.

The company asked for its shares to be suspended last Wednesday and announced it was planning to call in administrators.

It followed confirmation that some suppliers had stopped doing business with the retailer.