A few days ago GAME Australia, a major brick and mortar game shop, went into adminstration. This follows the UK branch of GAME closing 609 of its stores in March.

So far it is unknown if GAME Australia will be closing stores and their website states they will operate "as close to business as usual". However they did announce that due to payment issues with shipping companies, customers who pre-ordered Diablo 3 will not be receiving a copy nor can they get a refund or even use the credit towards other games...

Obviosuly not good news for Australian gamers. Luckily there is a lighter side to this story. Blizzard has decided to refund the amount of the pre-order to gamers who buy the game again as long as they have their receipt. Gamers must simply follow the steps laid out by the community manager in this forum post.

If you are one of the unlucky ones here are the steps you need to take:

"Australian GAME customers with a valid preorder/prepurchase receipt dated before May 15, 2012 can do the following:
1. Purchase the digital version of Diablo III from http://www.diablo3.com now or anytime before May 21, 2012.

2. Download and start playing when the servers go live!

3. Submit your GAME Australia preorder/prepurchase receipt to us before June 30, 2012.

4. Receive a credit from Blizzard, for the amount you paid in advance to GAME Australia for Diablo III. This credit will be applied to the payment method used for the digital purchase."

On the face of it this is a great public relations move by Blizzard who, presumably, did not get any of that pre-order money. For any Aussie gamers hopefully you kept your receipt and for everyone else its a great lesson for always keeping your receipt until the game is in your hand. Although I cant help but think, Diablo 3 is an online only game. Had you purchased it online you would always have the digital proof of your purchase plus you would have a downloaded copy of the game in question as part of the transaction. Is there any need for retail outlets like Game anymore? I suppose that is the reason for their administration.

One other thing to consider is that according to the process laid out by Blizzard, you will be faced with the prospect of paying for the game twice and hoping you can trust that you can get your money back. When the game costs £45 in the UK and you have already been stung once, are you going to pay for it again and hope you get money back?

For more info on GAME's situation you can visit the Game Website

If this has happened to you then please give your viewpoint on the situation below