UK Retailer GAME Charging Customers to Try PlayStation VR in Store

GAME is one of the UK’s leading brick and mortar video game retailers and stocks a wide range of products. Of course, the company has gone through administration before and faces uphill challenges due to the rise of digital and convenient online retailers. If the recent financials are anything to go by, GAME’s long-term future could be under threat. Of course, a successful Christmas period could help matters and accounts for a large portion of their yearly profits. Also, the huge array of new hardware is bound to get people through the door and encourage certain customers to trade in their older devices. One particular product which comes to mind is PlayStation VR and it’s important to provide customers with an idea of what VR technology can do via demos in store.

Unbelievably, GAME has decided to charge customers to use the PlayStation VR in a move which boggles the mind. As you can see from the tweet below, a 10-minute demo costs £5 while a 30 minute “playtest” will set you back £15:

Thinking about purchasing #PSVR ? Come and try it in store today! £5 for 10 minutes or £15 for 30 minutes! 🎮 pic.twitter.com/IIIHNHSSI2

— GAME Merthyr – Cyfarthfa Retail Park. (@GAMEMerthyr) October 22, 2016

This is an absolutely disgraceful move and it doesn’t even make any business sense. Surely, the better option which has been used for multiple console releases is to make the device accessible and allow the maximum number of people to try it out. This way, you can attract more people into the stores and give them a reason to buy the product now or at a later date. Honestly, this seems very petty and I cannot understand why GAME would annoy their customers just to amass very little funds. The situation illustrates that GAME’s management is short sighted and acting in a desperate manner. If similar measures like this are used for other products, GAME’s reputation can’t sink any lower.