Nada de EA en GAME en marzo

La reciente preocupación de John Riccitiello, cabeza visible de EA, por la complicada situación de la cadena europea de venta de juegos GAME, no era un buen agüero.

Después de confirmar la cadena durante el día de hoy que GAME no venderá Mass Effect 3 a tiempo (al menos en RU) se ha filtrado un memorándum interno de la compañía que descubre nuevos problemas para el 'retailer': tras el lanzamiento de SSX (análisis aquí) esta semana, GAME no presentará en sus estanterías británicas ningún juego adicional de EA durante todo el mes de marzo.

La noticia sobre Mass Effect 3 quedó confirmada mediante comunicado público, pero la nota filtrada (obtenida por IGN y extendida por Edge) revela detalles adicionales respecto a las dificultades que afronta la cadena actualmente.

Tom Devine, director ejecutivo de GAME para el norte de Europa envió el siguiente mensaje a su equipo hoy mismo:

"Dear all,

Last week we held an event for our partners in the industry and explained the challenges we are facing in the short term - and we asked for their support.

We asked them to trade with us using manageable credit terms, and for them to continue to do that whilst we work through the strategic review and refinancing of our business.

We gave the industry commitments - we committed to integrity and openness in our dealings, and working with everyone equally.

We committed to only stocking products on which we could get the right credit terms, regardless of the title or the supplier. We will not stock products if the terms are not right for our business - we will not sacrifice long-term credit requirements for short-term sales opportunities.

As a result of us taking this position - a position that we believe is critical to our long-term health as a business - we have taken the very difficult decision to not stock EA's March releases, including Mass Effect 3.

As a specialist retailer dedicated to games and gaming, it is never easy to make a decision not to stock a title, particularly one with such a strong fanbase. But it is imperative that we treat every supplier evenly, that we stick to our commitments, and that we don't sign up to payment terms that will hamper us further in the future.

It is even more critical that we manage this appropriately with our loyal customers. We know they will be disappointed regarding Mass Effect in particular and in recognition of this, we will be contacting our Mass Effect pre-order customers and as a gesture of goodwill we will be offering them £5 of reward card / elite points.

I know that many of you will have to manage customer and supplier feedback directly, and I would like to thank you in advance for your support and am happy to answer any questions you have directly - just grab me as I walk around."

Una vez más, hay que especificar que la cadena de venta española no tiene por qué verse afectada directamente por estos problemas. Aunque con algo de retraso, los juegos de Ubisoft para la salida de PS Vita llegaron antes que a Reino Unido y aún no hay noticias sobre retrasos de Mass Effect 3 o Mario Party 9, ni sobre un posible marzo sin juegos de EA. Sin embargo, la reunión a la que se refiere Devine bien podría tener carácter general y afectar a todos los establecimientos.

Gamereactor estará pendiente de reacciones desde España.