The shortages of Switch consoles aren’t just annoying to consumers who want one. It’s also annoying, or rather, problematic for retailers. Especially smaller ones who depend on the foot traffic of a newly launched console.
UK video game retailer GAME recently told investors that their upcoming earnings will be “substantially below previous expectations”. And that’s because “previous expectations” included a good supply of Nintendo Switch consoles, which they didn’t get.
The retailer said that Switch demand has been “very strong”, but that supply was “lower than expected”. That’s pretty much what every other retailer can attest to.
To be fair, they didn’t put all the blame on Nintendo. A GAME spokesperson said another issue for the poor performance was “continued softness in our core Xbox and PlayStation markets”.
And we’re sure that increased competition from Amazon and other online retailers had something to do with it — GAME has been struggling for years as a dedicated video game retailer.
After those statements, GAME share price dropped a massive 30%.
