Game Digital plc
 |
|
| Public | |
| Traded as | : |
| Founder | Terry Norris Bev Ripley |
| Headquarters | Basingstoke, United Kingdom |
|
Key people
|
David Hamid (Chairman) Martin Gibbs (CEO) |
| Products |
Game consoles Video games Accessories Mobile phones |
| Revenue | £861.9 million (2014) |
| £24.8 million (2014) | |
| £2.8 million (2014) | |
| Subsidiaries | Game Retail Ltd Multiplay Ads Reality |
| Website |
www www www |
Game Digital plc is the parent company of Game Retail Limited, a British video game company that trades under the Game brand, stylised as GAME.
The company's origins lie in the founding of the Rhino Group by Terry Norris and Bev Ripley in 1991. A number of mergers and acquisitions followed during the 1990s, and in 1999, the company was purchased by Electronics Boutique Limited, which rebranded itself as The Game Group. The company continued to expand during the 2000s, purchasing several retailers including Gameswizards in Australia.
In March 2012, several suppliers, including Nintendo, Electronic Arts and Capcom refused to supply their latest products due to concerns over Game's creditworthiness. Game subsequently entered administration on 26 March 2012, and was purchased by OpCapita the following week. Baker Acquisitions was subsequently renamed Game Retail Ltd.
The company operated in the United Kingdom under the Game and Gamestation brands from the acquisition of the latter in May 2007 until late-2012, when it was announced that the business would focus solely on the Game brand.
The company that went on to become Game was founded by Bev Ripley and Terry Norris as Rhino Group in 1991, with stores branded as Future Zone. A year earlier in 1990, a separate company, called Game, was founded by Peter Wickins and Neil Taylor. Rhino Group acquired Virgin Games Stores from W H Smith in 1993, increasing the total number of stores to 77.
In 1995, the gaming retailer Electronics Boutique acquired 25% of the Rhino Group, the name of which was changed to Electronics Boutique Limited under license from the US business, and John Steinbrecher was sent from the USA to manage the chain. The name of the retail outlets were also renamed from "Future Zone" to "Electronics Boutique". In 1999, Electronics Boutique Limited purchased a chain of retail outlets known as Game, from which the current name of the company was derived, for £99 million. At the time of the takeover Game had 86 stores. In 2001, Electronics Boutique Limited went on to purchase the BarrysWorld online gaming service, the French retailer ScoreGames, and the Spanish retailer Centro Mail.
In 2002, Electronics Boutique stores in the UK and Ireland were rebranded as Game, and the company name was changed to The Game Group. Despite the name change, a 1% sales royalty to Electronics Boutique in the United States continued to be paid until January 2006. Attempts to have this overturned in court in 2003 were unsuccessful.
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