Australian GAME customers will get neither Diablo 3 nor a refund on their preorders.
Australian gamers got a dose of bad news yesterday with the announcement that the nation’s chain of Game stores had entered administration. It’s not necessarily the end of the world, as demonstrated by the re-emergence of the U.K.-based Game Group last month, but it does typically signal the start of a painful process that means store closures and job losses for a lot of people.
But, the real-life travails of those unfortunately unemployed notwithstanding, the news got a whole lot worse in a whole heck of a hurry for the country’s gamers when Game revealed that because of the entry into administration, it will not be stocking Diablo 3 or Max Payne 3 – and it will not offer refunds to those who plunked down their money for preorders.
“We are still working to clarify the status of preorders. At this stage we are intending on honoring certain preorders placed on the Diablo 3 and Max Payne new releases. We will provide clarity on these and other new releases in due course,” the company said in a statement. “We are not able to refund customer deposits and customers who have paid a deposit for a preordered item at this stage should continue to monitor the website for further updates.”
This kind of thing is apparently legal in Australia, where gamers with paid preorders join the list of Game’s unsecured creditors, who are eligible to be repaid once all the secured creditors are taken care of. In other words, if you’re an Aussie with a preorder receipt from Game, your best bet is to either ride it out or write it off.
Game Australia also said that it will continue to accept gift cards but only for a maximum of 25 percent of the total purchase price, but returns and trade-ins will not be accepted.
via: GamesIndustry
Published: May 14, 2012 04:39 pm