Blizzard steps in where GAME Australia stores fail on 'Diablo III' pre-orders

Customer who pre-ordered Diablo III with GAME Australia may be able to pick up their copy of the game if their store managed to secure copies of the game prior to the appointment of an administrator. Yesterday GAME Australia announced that it entered administration and did not have sufficient funds to order Diablo III, meaning that those who had paid for pre-orders would not receive the game. The administration status of the company also meant that they would be unable to offer refunds for those who had paid for their pre-orders in part of in full.

Customers who pre-ordered Diablo III from GAME Australia may be able to pick up their copy if the store they bought it from managed to secure copies of the game prior to the appointment of an administrator.

Yesterday GAME Australia announced that it entered administration and did not have sufficient funds to stock Diablo III, meaning that those who had paid for pre-orders would not receive the game. The administration status of the company also meant that they would be unable to offer refunds for those who had paid for their pre-orders in part orin full.

The joint administrator of GAME Australia, Kate Warwick, said: "I regret that Diablo III isn't available across the whole network of stores and to all customers who have pre-ordered, however the stock on hand represents the total stock ordered prior to the appointment of Voluntary Administrators yesterday and unfortunately, there are insufficient funds on hand to purchase any additional copies".

Warwick also advised that all affected customers should contact the GAME store where they initially made the order to check whether the release has been received. If Diablo III is in store it will be available to pick up from today, however if it is not available, customers who have prepaid part or all of their order are directed to the GAME website which includes instructions on how to submit a claim to the Administrator.

You can read more about GAME Australia's administration here.

Update at 12:22pm: Blizzard is offering game credit for customers who pre-ordered Diablo III from GAME Australia and did not receive a copy.

Posting on the official Blizzard forums, a community manager explained that those with a receipt proving that they pre-ordered Diablo III from GAME can purchase the digital edition of Diablo III from diablo3.com and submit their GAME receipt to Blizzard by June 30, 2012.

Those who submit their receipts by this date will receive credit for the amount they paid in advance to GAME Australia for Diablo III. The credit will be applied to the payment method used for digital purchases.