On the week of Monday 5th October 2026, a group of gamers in south Wales were pondering if it was still worth going to the gaming shop in town. It’s no secret that brick & mortar premises have been struggling after the COVID pandemic, with costs being cheaper online.
Game stores have had to adapt recently as many businesses have an online presence and some businesses had to be shared with other companies in order to still survive in the digital era. Enthusiasts look for the gaming shops for card games, board games, console games, collector editions, plushies and merch in order to satisfy their gaming needs.
Online stores have a more competitive pricing as a result of not having the expenditure of physical prices, as well as staff.
Some people have said that the Online Safety Act is deeply flawed and does less to present an online safe space, but directs children to predatory and malicious content. It makes it a lot easier for Third-Party companies to steal your data. A highly regulated online space is no safer than the wild west it used to be. In a physical space, what you see is what you get. Very young children will be going there with parents, who can regulate in-person spaces.
You get the benefit of owning a physical product for the game. This could also include game packaging, extra goodies inside and game manuals. You might also pick up any accessories to go with said game. You also might not have to wait for the game to download when you buy it.
You also can get knowledgeable staff in the physical shop which could advise games that are appropriate to the user. They do encourage you to come back and get further support with game recommendations.
The main thing you lose by buying games online is the fact that you can’t sell videogames through online means. Steam has a policy where you can sell the game if you have less than 2 hours of playtime and you don’t like the game, but more often than not, if you buy a game online, you are forced to stick with it.
A local gaming and trading business, Cashmaxx said that “You can get more information on a game if you buy it in person. Buying online only gets you a blurb of the game and that’s it. It’s more important to try to go to these Brick and Mortar Businesses so that you can get further guidance from staff on what games you should be buying.”
I personally believe that Brick and Mortar Shops myself still are great for the future of gaming, but there are some issues arising, including Playstation 5 announcing they’re going to be getting rid of discs in 2028, causing plenty of countless outrage from the gaming community at large.
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