British retailer GAME closes 277 stores, thousands laid off

British retailer GAME is in the process of closing about half of its 600 UK stores and firing thousands of its employees as it enters administration and prepares for a fast restructuring.

British retailer GAME is in the process of closing about half of its 600 UK stores and firing thousands of its employees as it enters administration and prepares for a fast restructuring, the Guardian reports.

The massive layoffs and store closures are a last bid at attracting a buyer before the company, which employs about 6,000 staff in the UK, is forced to shut all of its doors.

Citing adminstrators, Metro reports that a total of 277 GAME and Gamestation stores have been closed today. MCV reports that all but three of the chain's Northern Irish stores have been closed and that the chain's flagship Birmingham New Street store is also shuttered. The website adds that 2,104 GAME employees, or about 40 percent of its UK workforce, lost their jobs today.

The news comes less than a week after the troubled British high street retailer announced that its board saw "no equity value left in the Group" and the company's struggle to stock games came to light.

The Guardian reports that a number of parties are interested in picking up a smaller version of the company, among the suspected bidders are GameStop and OpCapita.