Mass Effect 3 Unavailability could Cost GAME £2.5m

The release date for one of the more eagerly looked for games of the year - "Mass Effect 3" - is just around the corner. However, all is not smooth sailing.

There are reports that suggest the country's biggest video games retailer - GAME - is not stocking the latest edition of the best-selling franchise because of an ongoing financial crisis. However, were it not to stock the game (developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts), its financial woes could worsen by a further £2.5m, according to reports from The Guardian.

The retailer's financial problems, however, are only one side of the story. There is also the point that sales figures of the game must inevitably take a hit if one of the country's largest retailers does not stock the game; although there are no figures to indicate just how much, as yet.

"Working on the assumption that a decent triple A title sells 0.8m-1m titles in the first few weeks of release in the UK and assuming Game has around 20% share, we calculate that by not stocking "Mass Effect 3", Game is potentially missing out on around £6m-£7m of revenues in the UK given the title will retail for £39.99," Mark Photiades of Singer Capital Markets told The Guardian.

"With new software margins of around 24% this could result in £1.5m-£2m of lost gross profit in the current year. It is also worth noting that margins will suffer as a result of the reward card points being offered in compensation. We estimate this could amount to another £0.3m of forgone gross profit as typically pre-orders account for around 30% of initial sales. So in total there could be £2m-£2.5m of lost UK profit in a year where we are already forecasting losses of £8m," he added.

From GAME's perspective, it appears their focus is on survival rather than revival, which could be the reason why the company is set to drop "Mass Effect 3".

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