GameStop Set To Close 180 - 200 "Underperforming" Stores This Fiscal Year

Close 'em all. Gamestop is a leech anyway.

Edit: Most of its employees deserve better. It's a minimum wage job with maximum expectations. They continue to be profitable because they squeeze blood from a stone.

This sucks, I'm sure there will be much applause for this but I am saddened by it. Love going to gamestop with my kids. It really is the last store of its kind in my area. Have never had the horrible experiences people complain about on the internet, out visits there are always good. Seemed inevitable though, hope the folks currently employed there find new employment swiftly.

GOOD! I hope they all go under!... Sucks for the people with time invested there though, hope they can work something out, cause that is quite unfortunate for the employees involved...

Have never been in one, and by the sounds never will.
Just didnt like how they had so many exclusive Limited Editions but UK can't use them

This is unfair to the store they do their honest work to keep going. What isn't being told is alot we don't see what is going on inside management failure blaming the stores.

I don´t like this . . . we loose more and more shops due to online sales. I´m the kind of gamer who likes physical copies of my games and I still like to go to local game stores to buy them even if they cost me a few €€€ more.

@ProfessorXyZy I think you're fighting the tide on this one.

They've priced themselves out of the conversation. Almost without exception, Gamestop is the dearest place to buy new release games. In Ireland they are regularly €10 dearer than its nearest competitors on the same street. I've probably bought around 15 physical games for Switch since launch. At least 10 of those I've bought in a local game store. But never Gamestop.

I love having a physical game shop and going in for a browse but I cannot remember the last time I bought something in GameStop as it is so over-priced. It's very easy to blame online retailers like Amazon for making them look more expensive but there are a number of retailers in the UK & Ireland, such as Smyths Toys & Argos, where you can buy games in-store significantly cheaper. Until something is done about their pricing they will continue to struggle.

They were priced out, loss led, and outconvenienced to death by the internet and megastores. Not sure there was anything they could've done. Perhaps closed hundreds of locations years ago and offered better deals than the megastores? Diversified into more than just geek and sundry merch?
I'll be surprised if they manage to limp along to the launch of the PS5 and Xbox.

If they have smaller walk in-store that might change but it sounds more like rather then have a honest conversation with their stores. What they are doing seems more like cut their losses without asking what is it that we can do to get Customers back into the stores. If they had good console trade-in as most other places don't do that or good value for game trade-in or credit this would get customers interested back with them. But sounds more like the Upper upper management isn't asking themselves to listen to the stores for strategy market and sales.

@graysoncharles Believe it or not, this will still leave them with 5,000+ stores.

I still like going into Gamestop. I like looking at the merchandise and games available. However, now that I live in a rural area Amazon is my main place to buy games.

However, I did cancel a pre-order for my Special edition Link's Awakening because they were going to charge me $10 release day delivery where Wal-Mart is free.

"We anticipate that this will lead to much lighter title slate through the rest of 2019 and early 2020 given the end of the cycle timing for current consoles."

There are so many big games coming out over the next 6 - 9 months: Cyberpunk, FF7R, TLoU2, Shenmue 3 - OK admittedly none of them on Switch, but still, games are coming out, gamers aren't waiting for next gen.

And then after that you have the next gen consoles.

Higher ups at HQ like to talk about under performing stores, but it's really their plan that has the stores failing. Well that and digital.

Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, PS Now and Stadia. The future is coming and GS isn't invited.

A vile business in several aspects, but unfortunately the mostly rural areas of the US don't have many other options for physical games. I guess I'll be switching to digital.

The GameStop by me isn't bad but their selection is so limited and their prices are high compared to other stores or online retailers that I rarely have any reason to go there.

Always tough to see regular employees taking the fall over something like this.

I used to go to GameStop a lot, but now, I don’t think I’ve been in one in years. Sure you can blame online retailers like Amazon. But frankly, GameStop offered very little incentive to keep up with Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, etc. There’s literally been no incentive to buy from them anymore. Their prices are high, and trade in rates are laughable, shipping rates are $8 or more. Why would anyone go out of their way to visit GameStop?

And as a bonus, my last customer service encounter was completely ignored. As in, they never got back to me. This has been coming for a while, but as unfortunate as it is, the gaming community has moved on, and GameStop just isn’t going to make it unless they make drastic changes. I don’t think they will.

Close as many as you can Gamestop. After you're done, lower the prices to what they should be, then close some more.

Sucks for the people working there, but I have no sympathy left for this company.

Gamestop gets exclusives. That's the only reason I shop there. My locally owned Games store gets the bulk of my business.

In the Charleston, SC district, there were 4 stores within 1/4 mile from each other. This is what the PR is talking about in terms of density. The FuncoLand & EB Games acquisitions left many stores standing that over time cannibalized each other in terms of sales.
Sympathies for those affected; Some of you users need to grow up and live in the real world, too.

I've had a couple friends who worked at GameStop, and loathed their experience. Lots of pressure to upsell and get people signed up for their magazine (granted, that last bit may be dated now) And their business direction shifts dramatically every couple years, like when they focused on used DVD sales for a while there.

Still though, I wouldn't be shocked if the GameStop by my house was one of the ones chosen to close down. Which will suck, because I did like picking up pre-order goodies for major releases.

(@HobbitGamer I understand that this is 100% nostalgia talking here, but I still miss my trips to Funcoland)

@Bunkerneath Not strictly true, as all current gen hardware is region free. It's only the 3DS / Wii U that was region locked in recent times.

GS is going to slim down and streamline, but their supposed complete blockbuster-like collapse isnt as imminent as many youtube and industry arm chair prognosticators would lead you to believe. The fact PS5 and Scarlet are going to have an optical drive in at least one iteration of their consoles is going to keep the company as a whole going for awhile yet. I don't always agree with Michael Pachter, but I do feel he's right where he thinks GS's got another console generation to try and do something to stem the loss of their used game business.

What will happen probably in the next two years is going to be a trickle of store closures starting with the 200 early next year. It's gonna be a lot of much slower stores and stores in towns that have a lot of redundant locations say where there's a location in a dying mall and then right across the parking lot or road there's a strip mall store. You don't need three stores in a 5 mile square radius of each other.

They could fix this overnight.
Sell used games for maximum 75% of the new cost. They already pay the seller so little there is plenty of profit left.

@Desrever I went from a part time GA up to ASM with the company beginning at Wii launch for a couple years. I really enjoyed my work, but retail sales is definitely something that requires certain personalities and attitudes to succeed.
I also miss the 'trade papers' at Funco

Doesn't matter how much people whine about it. Brick and mortar stores are becoming obsolete for most things. At least chain stores like this that deal in new products mostly. Specialty stores that deal in retro or specialty products still have their place, but these days I buy about 80/10/10. 80% of my games are physical orders online, shipped right to my door, usually on release day. 10% digital downloads and only the remaining 10% of the time do I still go out to the store to buy a game.

The only other use for traditional brick and mortal stores are things like grocery stores, that sell sell things that expire too quickly to ship, or clothing stores that let you try clothing on to confirm it fits properly before you buy it.

This is what happens when a huge & sucky corporation takes over and becomes a monopoly. It is a lot like book stores & Amazon.

Remember the old game stores? Remember the old mom & pop stores? Maybe some will come back, kind of like some book stores are coming back, post-Amazon.

i think it a good idea to move my pre orders to a better place

Sure Amazon and BestBuy are competitors but if they had something like Prime (aka that limping as well) or GCU (very good incentive program to get Gamers buying that was killed) these two programs would keep buyers buying. But for some reasons they couldn't get their heads out where the Sun Doesn't Shine that they hurt rather then help sales.

Before Walmart didn't really sell games, but now they do and most are open 24 hours so there's not much reason to even go to GameStop for that. The only thing they lack is used games, which you can get cheaper than GameStop on Amazon or Ebay.

An ideal game store:

• Sells Trading Cards, Video games, Consoles, and accessories for both
• Hosts tournaments for games and cards with rewards that draw people in
• Offers membership program that has perks to encourage loyalty to the store like 5-10% off depending on how much you've spent so far that year and 25-50% off tournament entry fees
• Lounge area where people can pop in any game to try out for a little bit and decide if they like it
• Midnight openings for the really popular games

Gamestop? You mean the funko pop and fnaf plush seller?

Ah Gamestop. I remember going to my local Gamestop to pick up a copy of Sonic And The Black Knight. But the cashier gave me Sonic And The Secret Rings instead. Good old memories. 😛

@Lone_Beagle "This is what happens when a huge & sucky corporation takes over and becomes a monopoly. It is a lot like book stores & Amazon."
Your making misleading facts. GameStop started with GameStop. Your over comparing GameStop and Amazon that don't match correctly.

@Lone_Beagle "Remember the old game stores? Remember the old mom & pop stores? Maybe some will come back, kind of like some book stores are coming back, post-Amazon."
GameStop is like a mom & pop store so not sure what your grip is but is misplaced here. Barnes and Noble is still around so your analysis is poorly done here.

Good... They have terrible customer service anyway with the primary concern of selling used merchandise. And on top of that, at least in most locations in the city I reside, the employees utilize shaming tactics in statements like "im trying to save you money" lines. When in reality they're just trying to save their jobs. Long time gamers know what we're buying into, so you can't just force someone to purchase only used stuff. That's ridiculous.....

I feel bad for the employees but not the company. To me it seems like the company just has no clue what they’re doing and haven’t for years..

With 95% being profitable closing the 200 or so 5% losing money seems like a good business move. I don't understand the hate GameStop gets. Like any other retailer you can't expect to get stellar service at every store. My local store is friendly, knowledgeable and just overall I really nice place.

A little business lesson for you all. The more competition in the market, the better it is for the consumer. Less competition leaves a monopoly to do whatever they like.

Gamestop may not be the best shop, but without them Amazon will have no reason to be cheaper.

@xmrmeow "Before Walmart didn't really sell games, but now they do and most are open 24 hours so there's not much reason to even go to GameStop for that. The only thing they lack is used games, which you can get cheaper than GameStop on Amazon or Ebay."

Don't know where you been but Walmart has sold games PC and other consoles before not in a big way but they sold Games. And the games cost the same as GameStop or Amazon so not sure where your getting your Facts but that is wrong. The only time they cost less is outdated or unpopular games sell less to remove inventory. 24 hours give no guarantee of game selling - you do know they offer more then just game. So the comparison is already off track here.

@xmrmeow "An ideal game store:"

I have yet to see this from any Electronics retailers. Walmart, BestBuy, Amazon, Circuit City, CompUSA. So remember the last two if you remember them.

@xmrmeow "Sells Trading Cards, Video games, Consoles, and accessories for both"

GameStop does this already it's the trade value that should give more value so buyers would trade more often.

@xmrmeow "Hosts tournaments for games and cards with rewards that draw people in"

That is a expensive investment if there isn't the fanbase to support it. Remember Pokemon cards tournaments at Gaming Stores not GameStop.

@xmrmeow "Offers membership program that has perks to encourage loyalty to the store like 5-10% off depending on how much you've spent so far that year and 25-50% off tournament entry fees"

They do that but could improve on it - aka like BestBuy GCU that makes it cheaper for Member or higher tier Member rewards.

@xmrmeow "Lounge area where people can pop in any game to try out for a little bit and decide if they like it"

That cost money to do and isn't cheap.

@xmrmeow "Midnight openings for the really popular games"

They do that already now - you might want to do more homework on this.

@YeshaYahu5417 "Good... They have terrible customer service anyway with the primary concern of selling used merchandise. And on top of that, at least I'm most locations in the city I reside, the employees utilize shaming tactics in statements like "im trying to save you money" lines. When in reality they're just trying to save their jobs.

This sounds like a personal problem unrelated to GameStop employees. You might want to remember not all Retailers will carry the same game or bonus extras.

@YeshaYahu5417 "Long time gamers know what we're buying into, so you can't just force someone to purchase only used stuff. That's ridiculous....."

Whom are we talking about here? When games are used they are used it will cost less. So unless your looking for PreOrder Bonus the comment has no value here. Used game cost less and that is how it is. You can't change that fact.

@MrGawain "A little business lesson for you all. The more competition in the market, the better it is for the consumer. Less competition leaves a monopoly to do whatever they like."

Alot of Troll Poster failed this Economics 101 class already.

@MrGawain "Gamestop may not be the best shop, but without them Amazon will have no reason to be cheaper.

This is what those Trolls forgets without Gamestop options Amazon could care less or carry less for buyers to choose from but buy what Amazon chooses for them to buy. This is what Trolls forgets Amazon could limit what they sell and your choices will be made for you. So stop asking you might get what you didn't wish for.

@GrandScribe "I feel bad for the employees but not the company. To me it seems like the company just has no clue what they’re doing and haven’t for years."

There is always going to be bad Apples but that is why you talk rather then harass employees - why you think what you think. Arguments doesn't give you any stars with Employees whom are doing their best within their limits.

And put this, I don't work for GameStop but a fellow Gamer and appreciate the Employees that I interact during my game buying. They are doing with less to make it more. So unless you can show your work experience in GameStop - dissing GameStop employees shows your lack of humanity. Blame the Upper Corporation for their the problem not GameStop employees.

Maybe it's just because I'm an older gamer (46), but I 100% prefer physical copies of games (and no download code in the case) over digital purchases. I think that the younger customer base that prefer buying digital copies will understand why us older folks like physical copies when twenty years from now when their favorite old games no longer are available because support for XYZ console was stopped at some point.

Yes. Gamestop has some bad management practices, and it needs to be reorganized. The problem is that the more we see these kinds of stores go away, the more we push the industry towards all digital game sales.

The only reason we still have the full library of games from systems like NES, SNES, GB, GG, Genesis, etc today is because of physical media. With out the physical games, most of these libraries would be completely gone.

One prime example is the Ducktales game that got pulled from all digital formats recently because of licensing ending. That game is gone now unless you had purchased it before it was taken off all digital stores.

Keep in mind at last count Gamestop had over 5800 stores worldwide. Closing 200, or even 400 when all is said and done is only closing a little under 7% of their stores. Not exactly the company going out of business.... believe it or not.... A big closure, but only somewhat larger than typical pruning. And this is a company that due to their mergers have at times had two stores in the same mall/shopping center and another one across the street. They trimmed a lot of those out, but I'm sure some remain.

@Illusion They weren't priced out, loss led, or inconvenienced. They were mismanaged. The same way Sears, Toys R' Us, etc. etc. were. They had a locked market. They had exclusive deals and relationships with manufacturers. They had similar promotions they discarded. They have a website just like everyone else's they never utilize properly and don't use their position to offer advantages. You need an advantage to be a specialty store, but they never wanted to spend money to offer advantages. And worst of all they never met a bridge they didn't like to burn, willing instead to tarnish their image down to being their own scalper to the point they lost tremendous consumer confidence by all informed consumers. The store that will only sell you a Wii in a bundle with a bunch of games and accessories. The store that put their Switch allotment aside to do the same, while other stores were selling them. The store that massively oversells pre-orders ROUTINELY. The store that spent fortunes buying out all of it's competitors for years to shut them down and merge them. The store that infamously opened it's entire exclusive Xenoblade Wii allotment to sell it used for a higher price than new. The store that sells OPENED, possibly used discs as "new" games. And the store that infamously gives you pennies on the dollar for their trade-in lifeblood. That's not a weak market position. That's colossal large scale mismanagement by running a boutique specialty chain like it's a futures trading brokerage.

And then when the writing was on the wall, they converted their stores into apparel and novelties, presenting an image of abandoning their core market. Then blamed the market when it didn't work.

The sad truth is many of its predecessors that it bought/absorbed were much better stores that could have weathered the atmosphere much better. EB. Babbages. It was the incestuous relationship with Barnes & Noble (another failing, mismanaged specialty chain) and one of their board members/investors that turned Gamestop down the predatory route, and that saw investor success so they kept doing it until it bit them. And by then the damage was too late and the shrinking of physical (and therefore used - nearly-free inventory!) hit at the right time they couldn't pull out of the feefall.

Gamestop is largely responsible for publishers focusing on in-the-box DLC codes, DLC in general, and the push to online managed distribution. Gamestop's predatory commoditizing of use game sales, pushing it ahead of new game sales, were a heavy slap to their vendors faces, I.E. the publishers.

They broke themselves, B&N helped them do it.... The blame doesn't go to Amazon, BB, or the internet. It goes to Gamestop's boardroom.

And yet, still, they remain profitable with only a 4-7% store closure, worldwide over a year or two (for now.)

@redd214 It's the last store of it's kind because Gamestop is the plague that killed all the other ones by force. I agree that it's sad, because I do enjoy going into a gaming store, and it's the last one. But don't forget that they are the reason they are they last one. It's like lamenting the serial killer got arrested because he was the last person left to talk to, and now there's no one at all.

Ouch!

Guess I'd better cash in on that trade credit I still have with them.

@NEStalgia yup Gamestop closings just like serial killers, all makes more sense now

@SwitchForce my issues are with the owners they’re blatantly greedy even by capitalist standards which is saying something and they really seem to have no clue about how to run the company even semi well. Honestly I feel terrible for the employees they labor away for some truly awful people.

Sincerely hope my local branch stays open because the staff there are friendly and for me it's the only place other than Wal-mart (blech) within a 20-mile radius where I can buy physical games in person.
I think there is something to be said for brick-and-mortar boutiques like these - I remember going to midnight launches for my preordered Switch and again for Smash Bros, lining up with other gamers, swapping stories, and sharing a few laughs.
These stores can help the community when done right. I like to shop small when possible.

Overpriced. Horrible to deal with and treated anyone i know that ever worked for them really badly.

Gave up ever shopping with them after they cancelled my pre-ordered amiibos but decided to charge me anyway and took almost 2 months to refund me.

@Zuljaras Yeah I agree...until console makers stop including a place to put the physical media. Just like PCs.

@NEStalgia Bravo, sir. This guy gets it. I can't agree with everything you said enough.

I guess I'm an opportunist for doing this. But I'm already setting money aside for a liquidation sale, similar to the Toys R Us situation. Without a significant change, I don't see them surviving the next console generation.

I wonder how this will affect EB Games Canada, which in my city is pretty much the only brick and mortar store you can pre-order anything from.

@sikthvash Sorry, which i meant was that Gamestop didn't deliver to the UK so we could not use the company itself, not the Limited Edition games

To be truthful it could have been worse. I'm UK so can't get into whether the ... really excessive!... online bashing is justified. Much of this has to do with online retailers, which affects all stores, but GameStop is hit twice with digital sales. If anything the number closing is relatively small compared to the number it has. And while people are saying things like 'should close down completely' there must be many happy customers. And comparing online prices to groundstep retail is not really justified. The overheads on groundstep are phenomenal. Hopefully employees in the stores affected will get support from GameStop in finding new employment.

I rarely visit my local Gamestop. Most of the time it's to see wether they have an older game for sale that would be otherwise hard to track to down but they rarely have one I'm interested in. I don't mind them going out of business but I do hope the employees manage to find a new job. That's always the worst part about this kind of stuff

@Bunkerneath Apologies! I misinterpreted. There's always the inflated prices on eBay for imports ha!

Good riddance.

I'm actually shocked they have that many stores, we lost our store in my small town about 5-6 years ago which was super sad for me. It's tough when you live in a small town and your only option for new games is Walmart (their selection generally sucks in store). I've pretty much been forced to get everything through amazon now.

While I'm not fond of some of GameStop's policies (or their corporate), most of the regular employees in my local branch are decent, knowledgeable people. I've only ever had one negative experience there, and the employee that was partially responsible for it has been gone for years.

I hope it doesn't close. I admittedly don't go in there often, but I've been able to get some excellent deals on used (and occasionally new, though out for some time) games there. My only other brick-and-mortar option for many miles is, unfortunately, Walmart; a lot of their gaming stuff is out of stock half the time, plus they clearly favor the other two console platforms over Nintendo's merch.

Business wise, this is probably the best option they have at this point. I feel like they expanded far too quickly, and were far too greedy with some of their business measures. I do hope they get to stick around though. Their collectibles can be a tad on the boring, or generic side, but their Black Friday deals are sometimes pretty killer.

Guess I'll just keep buying my games from Target, where I get lower prices and don't get hassled into pre-ordering or getting videogame "insurance." Won't miss it

I hope the employees land on their feet.

on one hand: yes, the beast is dying
on the other hand: hope the empoyees find new jobs, odds are anything they find will be better then the demonic corporation that's been slowly siphoning their souls

@Cartune Dude, really? Where did the bad Gamestop touch you, to make you so mad that you want ALL of them to go under?

Oh man I really hope my store isn’t one of those 200. I bought all my wii games there:(

All the Gamestops in my surrounding area have stellar people, so I hope they remain unaffected. I hope the company stays afloat, but it does make sense with gaming creeping towards all digital that they start to taper down. Either that or they should grab the used game industry by the balls and be the go-to place for retro games.

@SwitchForce To be fair, the "business lesson" post isnt wrong. More competition is good for business, especially consumers. More competition means more options, more motivation to innovate, and in addition competition forces companies to try to provide the best value to their customer.

Do I believe Gamestop is monopolizing anything? Absolutely not. Which is why they are facing some tougher times. However, if they fail to innovate they will be left behind.

Good riddance, they killed a lot of the good GameStop (these are those that use to be FuncoLand) chains and now I'm glad that the bad ones are getting the boots. Should had kept the good ones and get rid of the bad ones from the start though.

@redd214 Gamestops are the last of their kind because they bought out all the better game stores back in the day so all we have had is mediocre ass gamestops. It is hard to mourn them considering the way they ruined the video game retail industry.

@xmrmeow agreed. At least Barnes & Nobles has a Starbucks where you have a reason to go and hang out. I think a gaming store concept could work, but they have to offer stuff that you can't get online, like experience.

High prices, limited selections and undervalued trade-ins..............this was inevitable given their business practices.

It’s a whole new era for consumers and they’re still acting like the consumer base is shopping like it’s the 90s to mid 2000’s

@NoxAeturnus @ProfessorXyZy the day physical games are obsolete is the day millions of gamers will quit buying systems and games. Billions of dollars will be lost because of digital

@JayJ Not sure how it's ruined, can you explain? I mean, the most annoying thing that's ever happened at a Gamestop for me is a fairly long line and/or being asked to preorder something. Hardly a bother.
But, "ruined the video game retail industry," sounds like a little bit of a stretch. Even still, I'd like to get your input.

@Dirty0814 The digital music and movie industries say hi. People will just move to the next thing, like we always do. I won't, but I know many others will.

@Dirty0814 And those gamers will age and die eventually, and the younger generations who will have grown up on digital purchases will continue to purchase games digitally and the industry will chug along just fine. The slice of the market that is digital sales grows every year.

@HaTTrick71 High prices? Higher than what, exactly? I've gotten some solid deals at Gamestop, even on some good retro games due to sheer luck. Heck, I got Horizon: Zero Dawn for $8, on one trip and Contra 4 for my DS for $24 on another. It's not like they are over-charging for things; their prices are in the same competitive value as other places, sales dependent.

Also, what used game place gives decent prices for trade-ins? The local place for me, Gamedude, has been around for 20+ years, and their trade in values are just as bad as Gamestop. These places have to buy you stuff for 1/3 of the sale price, at maximum. Demand/rarity also determines the price of these goods. That's why Mega Man 5 is 90+ bucks, and Mega Man 2 is around 20. Rarity and demand. Just saying, Gamestop is not the absolute worst thing that could have happened to retail games.

on one hand, game stop has killed off so many indy game stores in my area over the years, and has horrible customer service. (I tried to return a game because it was unplayable due to my disability and they just kind of laughed and gave me $2.50). But now, they're the only game store left in my area. I buy digitally most of the time, because unlike gamestop I can generally get a refund on a digital purchase if it's unplayable, but when I do buy physically (generally the games I'm most excited about or are gigantic) it's at my local gamestop. I live in a rural area, so sometimes the internet makes downloading huge titles impossible, and also way more likely that the gamestop in my area is one of the ones going down. I'm not a fan of gamestop at all, and the way they treat employees and customers alike is abominable, but if the one near me closes the only place I'll have to buy games is digitally or an hour's drive.

@Pixel-Florist Sounds pretty awful. Is it a photo-sensitivity sort of thing?

Someone needs to purchase them and totally revamp the culture and poor policies. I have about 3 nightmare stories about customer service experiences I have had...and I only shop with them a few times a year. I cant imagine what other people that shop more have experienced.

There is still value in a game centric store in my opinion - but you have to do it right. No selling games as new. Dont have half the store be toys. Dont hire judgemental people that have to offer their opinion when they see what youre buying. Have a lot of demo kiosks with interchangeable games. Dont charge an arm and a leg for used games. Give a better value back for used games (at least match Amazon). Provide a gamer rewards program like Best Buy had. But dont push it like crazy and make people uncomfortable.

@NoxAeturnus per capita game sells decline a little every year due to digital. The fact that you are only renting something instead of buying and the fact that digital he's out for a year after release cost the same.as on release has driven sales away and to physical. Most gamers buy, trade and sell their games when they are done with them and with digital that is not a option which leads to fewer game sells for newer games. Industries are ruining gaming as we speak. The more gaming becomes digital the more they will rise in price and the less you will get.
It's sad but yes it is true and honestly I have enough games to last me as it is until I die 10 times over. I don't need the newer crap as none of it is ever a full game anyways.
All I am doing is stating facts. The Industry will collapse upon itself with digital

@Mr_Muscle How young are you? It sounds like you weren't around for when Gamestop was absorbing other businesses, anyone who experienced video game stores before they all became Gamestops shouldn't be asking any questions like that.

Basically long story short: they essentially monopolized the video game retail store industry which ruined it. Video game stores used to make a lot of sense and they were very consumer friendly before Gamestop absorbed them all, then anti-consumer practices and mediocrity took over. If you ever experienced a Funcoland you would know why everyone who knew what that was like hates Gamestop.

@JayJ I'm an old lol. Been gaming for 30+ years. I guess it's because the local game stores other than Gamestop still exist in my area. Honestly though, I don't think it's their fault. Smaller game stores were destined to have a hard time, with the rarity of their wares forcing their prices to be much higher. Easier for people to pay $40 for a new Switch game than $80 for a rare NES game. There's still many great game stores that sell older titles near me, though.

@Mr_Muscle the gaming industry is already killing itself. Releasing half games full of glitches and still wanting full price for them a year after release. Per capita digital has already started slowing gaming sells. If it goes full digital it will have huge repercussions as most gamers will not have the means to purchase games like they do now with buying, trading and selling. Games will come and die faster and faster which we are already seeing as well. Companies offer nothing for a gamer anymore. I am glad I started collecting as I have plenty to keep me busy.
As for being fully digital I don't see that happening honestly. If it was then music would have already been there. To much income is lost without physical.

@Mr_Muscle Well we’re not talking about Gamedude or any other retailer, we’re talking about GameStop. They’re supposed to be doing it bigger and better than the competition, which includes prices, selection and trade-in value. And despite whatever positive experience you’ve had there, no two customers are the same.

At the end of the day, GameStop is the one closing down stores, which means consumers are finding better deals somewhere else.

@Dirty0814 I'm totally on board with what you're saying about the half games released for full price. I'd say that's pretty much the worst practice in modern gaming. The standard was so much higher during the cartridge/CD days because you couldn't just email everyone a patch to fix your broken game.

@HaTTrick71 We're only talking about Gamestop, so no comparisons are allowed? Interesting take, but okay! And of course, some people have had negative experiences, but that goes for all stores. I just thought it was kinda silly for some users to be like, "yeah, burn 'em all down!" when really it's not as bad as it sounds.

Plus, it makes sense that Gamestop is slowly decreasing their store volume, as we move closer to a more prominently digital distribution practice.

@Mr_Muscle The problem with Gamestop trying to move digital is how their website is terrible and really outdated, and they are by far the worst place to order things from in my experience. Best Buy seems to offer much better deals all around, especially when it comes to shipping. Best Buy will ship out most things to me for free, even offering free release day delivery. Gamestop still wants to charge me $10 for snail mail all the time.

Honestly that is just yet another example of their problem. They aren't really competitive with other retail stores and dedicated video game stores aren't really a thing anymore because of them. All of their efforts to change things seems like too little too late, especially as they are apparently unwilling to offer competitive deals.

@JayJ Hm, sounds like they would rather you walk into the store than have them ship to you, which is probably why they have shipping charges like that. I'm still not sure why you are convinced that dedicated game stores are no longer a thing because of them. I'm literally surrounded by 9-10 of them, all within an hour or less driving distance. One of them even specializes in Japanese imports only, and they've been in business for 15 years. That argument is going to depend on what area you're in. Again, I disagree with the competitive deals thing. I go to Target and Horizon Zero Dawn is $20 new (if they have it) and I go to Gamestop and get it for $8 used. That's pretty darned competitive. I know they aren't perfect; no company is. They sure do make a lot of mistakes in their marketing, like forcing their employees to have these long-winded greetings when they pick up the phone. I get it, though, Gamestop isn't marketed towards everyone.

@Mr_Muscle Despite whatever evolutionary change the industry might incur, the closing of stores is rarely if ever been a positive or neutral sign for a franchise.

To each there own, but I’m someone that’s been both a consumer and employee of GameStop. So I can understand exactly where a great deal of consumer animosity towards them comes from.

@HaTTrick71 Of course! I have friends that work there and they aren't always happy with the job. Better than the alternative, for sure!

@Mr_Muscle What JayJ is referring to is how they destroyed the retail landscape for games specialty stores. Once upon a time there were several major competing chains, plus a large number of independent stores, plus the big box stores. Among all of them, GameStop was always the worst of the bunch. Electronics Boutique (EB) was a fantastic store with great stores, policies, etc. Babbages, which is actually the company that morphed into GameStop eventually was similarly excellent, if not superior, though it was more PC focused. Funcoland always seemed a bit exploitative in they way they pushed their overpriced used market. I never went in there much as a result. These were all very high quality stores, with excellent in-store atmosphere, a very professional feeling, and no sense you're getting jerked around.

At one point Babbages merged/stock-swapped with Software Etc (this eventually became GameStop). That's when things started going badly.

At this point the company that owned all this, before the GameStop brand, essentially went bankrupt. This is in the mid-90's. They were in debt, and couldn't secure credit for holiday inventory (similar to Sears-K-Mart now.) They went for liquidation. EB actually bid to buy them, but the courts awarded the sale to the Software Etc. CEO who was also a principal investor in Barns & Noble and a board member. He then sold the company to Barns & Noble.

THIS is where our story begins. What we call "GameStop" is not "GameStop." It was a franchise birthed entirely by B&N. It was B&N Games more appropriately. Yes, the company that similarly destroyed the retail landscape for books and music in their big box consolidation rise.

For the "dark years" that saw GameStop buy out EB and Funco, the shift of the stores to the ugly yellow, teen-focused layout (they've since reverted to the EB layout/color scheme), high pressure sales, "game insurance", selling opened games, etc, they were actually a wholly owned subsidiary of B&N. Then they bought a few smaller chains and closed them. Then they went with the Walmart military strategy of "enclosure" by supersaturating every area with stores piled so dense you could walk between them in concentric circles to squeeze out all the independent stores that remained....then massively closed a bunch of those stores at once leaving them abandoned once they crushed the smaller competitors. It was run the way B&N ran in consolidating into a book monopoly (until Amazon broke their monopoly in both cases.) Then B&N spun it off into an IPO and they've been their own company, running with former B&N board members ever since, plus a shuffle board of executives with one that was absent on and off with (eventually fatal) illness, and then a bunch of other part time, acting, interim exectuives, executives resigning randomly ,etc. It's been a mess since B&N sold it off....but they sold it off after they already made it into what it is and saw that it was going to enter a decline.

Ultimately, it was Gamestop and their B&N ownership that went out of their way to destroy the retail landscape for games the same way Walmart damaged the retail landscape at large.

Gamestop's history isn't just a matter of an outgunned video game specialty boutique that is struggling. They're a Fortune 500 from the heart of the 90's and 00's big box consolidation effort, created by and inextricably tied to B&N (also failing now, and also destroyed the market in their own core markets of books and music). There were better alternatives, including much better chains that understood the business they were in, but the investor-driven expansionist B&N made sure that only their brand remained. EB and such can sit next to Walden and Borders with stores that were outmaneuvered by a finance-driven B&N.

Anecdotally, I recall as far back as maybe 12 years ago during the B&N heyday, I was going to buy a PC game on disc. They wanted to sell me one of their opened games for full price with their seal of quality stickers closing it in the jewel case. I refused to pay full price for an open box. They endlessly argued about their shrinkage and so forth. So I just walked out, walked 200 steps down the parking lot to Best Buy and bought a shiny sealed copy. For $2 less. That's their mentality. It's about what's good for them, and they'll argue with you about what's good for them, when their competitor is literally in visual range offering the better result.... That's B&N arrogance. GameStop inherited their leadership....unfortunately for them.

Meanwhile just a few months ago was the KH3 PS4 preorder debacle. Reports say they got an estimate from Sony how many they'd get. They not only bet on the high delivery number, but the oversold THAT number. Sony delivered on the low side of the estimate. Meaning they'd oversold their preorders by a factor of nearly 2. They've done that before. They use it to force the vendor to produce more for them. Meanwhile they actively lie on the phone to customers that they're trying to get more from the vendor and they'll call or email you etc. etc. That's after having you wait on the hold queue. On top of THAT, their employee quota systems had stores selling inventory they didn't have.....which they pulled from the online store allotment...meaning most online preorders were cancelled. And they didn't notify anyone until they were supposed to have shipped. Customers found out with an email telling you you cancelled your preorder. Then a coupon for your next purchase and an explanation a few hours later.

And several times I ordered, online, "in stock" items....that then showed as backordered after I ordered them. And they ship in 2 weeks. From a random retail location.

It's like they go out of their way to make the customer experience as unpleasant as possible. I try to like them. I keep giving them additional chances. And they prove every time why they're just a terrible company to work with compared to any other option. The retail stores are nice with great staff....I enjoy going in now and then. But the company overall is just on a track that assumes the position that dealing with customers is a problem they'd rather work around rather than a relationship to curate.

@graysoncharles haha! All of them? I’ve got like over 20 of these thing within 15 miles of me. There are more GameStops in my location than Starbucks.

Maybe without so many brick and mortar stores to operate they can concentrate their efforts on being competitive with prices. It’s a shame though. I was pretty sad when Toys R Us did this and then ended up going under but they actually made some effort of staying competitive what with decent sales and price matches.

@NEStalgia I remember those stores! Been a while. I remember getting Contra 3 from an EB Games way back when.

@Mr_Muscle Well when your competition is Best Buy it is hard to make any anti brick-n-mortar arguments, Best Buy has every reason to want you to visit one of their many locations but they still offer shipping that is competitive with Amazon because they are a well run operation that is trying to stay at the top and please their customers.

Anyways what you are saying about video games stores is essentially the old book store argument. Back in the day when Barnes and Noble was becoming a giant everyone hated them because they were buying out all the book stores. Yes you can make the argument that there is still the odd mom-n-pop privately owned book store here and there in some major cities but that's the point. Before Barnes and Noble there was a multitude of book store chains in a wide variety of locations but they all became Barnes and Noble with the odd exception so when Amazon happened and Barnes and Nobles started closing down nobody was sad because they in a sense monopolized book stores for most people. Gamestop is basically the same exact kind of company from the same era.

@rockodoodle The experience is what you used to have with stores like Funcoland which is why so many people used to love them. One of the best things about going to a Funcoland back in the day was checking out all the demos they had. They would setup a bunch of demo consoles all around their store for various platforms so as a kid I enjoyed hanging out there just checking out all the games.

Then Gamestop bought them out and I noticed a change as soon as they put up the Gamestop sign on the building. The demo units went away, the classic games from past generations were for the most part gone, and their used prices on newer games went up. That and the whole atmosphere was completely different, since the demo units were gone there was no real reason to hang out there, and the people who worked there seemed to have little interest in gaming. The kind of people they had at Funcoland were very passionate about what they were selling and they were very nice to work with, the people at Gamestop couldn't seem to care less and always treated you as just another customer.

Well, I hope the one next to my place of work isn't one of them. They treat me quite well there.

Babbages/Software Etc purchased Funcoland and renamed themselves Gamestop.

EB Games was purchased later.

Part of me wonders how things would be if Funcoland or EB Games were the ones that bought Babbages/Software Etc.

Ultimately, here on the southern tip of town you exit west on the freeway there’s Gamestop, exit east and there is another one, go two miles down the road and there is a third.

Pros and cons- I have no problem with my local Gamestop and all the guys there are great. My problem is with corporate. They are just greedy. I’ve been complaining for years that a used game is only 5 bucks cheaper then a new one. That’s ridiculous just buy new then. I also can’t stand how they get one copy of a new game and gut it. As a collector, that sucks. Used games do come in handy sometimes though when your trying to find that one game that eludes you and I do like their points & rewards program but aside from Gamestop, I only have Target and Best Buy near me as an alternative. There’s No Walmart here and Toys R Us is obviously gone and worse, NO small private shops by me at all and I’m in NYC! Best Buy still gives me 20% off new games as well- something Gamestop would never do. Gamestop also never ever did BUY 2 Get One Free with NEW games like Toys R Us used to do and Best Buy would match that sale. Target has good sales sometimes but their selection is small. But I see the changes in Gamestop lately: clothing, action figures, collectibles, board games- digital is definitely hitting them in their pocket.

I really hate to be one of those people as I never like to see a business go under and people lose jobs, but.... Good. This is the one video game store I refuse to purchase from as they have caused me NUMEROUS problems in the past. Their greed has pushed countless customers away and judging by the quick peek I took at the comments thus far, I'm certainly not alone in this.

Maybe this is will get the fat cats who run the Gamestop brand to take an honest look at their tactics and change them. If Gamestop could change their ways, that would be for the best solution, but if they can't, then let 'em burn I say. They've earned my wrath for their shoddy practices.

That's a relief! GameStop needs to be defunct and go out of business. Payless Shoesource has been out of business since the beginning of 2019. Sears is heard to possibly go out of business as well. I heard that our whole strip mall is set to fully go out of business as well, and that includes JCPenny, Hallmark, Victoria's Secret, TJMax, Tilt Entertainment, Old Navy, Rue21, Macy's, etc. But all this is supposedly a rumour, if it does happen, I'd be half surprised and not-so-surprised. I believe all stores except big shopping chains like Walmart, Target, maybe Academy Sports + Outdoors, will stay. Everything is going online now in this day and age.

I’m like most others and part of the reason so many stores are closing (due to buying online), however it’s still sad to see it happen and I miss many of the stores already gone...

Lately GameStop has been expanding more and more on other physical collectable goodies besides just video games, we can find so many video game and anime based merchandise such as boardgames, clothes, plushies, lamps, and figurines! They even have some merchandise which are directly imported from Japan, and some GameStops got those capsule vending machines called "Gashapon". In my opinion GameStop is evolving from just appealing to the gaming community to the entire otaku community, however the store isn't being properly advertised as such the lack of proper and more accurately updated marketing promotion is affecting its sales and profits and so we are sadly loosing one of the huge staples of this community

The trade-in system they have is what has bad reputation, that shouldn't apply to the entire business as a whole for is just a small fraction of what GameStop does, it is a great store and a main source for us Gamers and Otakus to be ourselves and meet with others who are like us and mingle.

@JayJ It's funny you used B&N as your comparison example considering as I pointed out above, Gamestop IS B&N. Or was spawned by them and run by then before they spun it off as it's own company. And GS's executive board consists largely of B&N board/investors. It's not just a similar monopolization - it's actually the same monopolization strategy (and failure) by the actual same company/people.

As for the staff in stores, I've always found the staff to be gamers that are passionate about gaming. Heck, if they weren't do you think they'd actually work there and endure the substandard pay for the demand they put on them? They only reason they can treat employees as they do is because they know the employees are passionate about the industry.

They'll have gone the way of Blockbuster before long. They either can't or won't compete with online. And whether the physical devoted like it or not, digital sales are coming to dominate the market (if they haven't overtaken yet).
New physical games in a physical store will soon be limited to big box chains only.

Have they said what stores their closing in Ireland? Asking since I would rather get physical video games, as the internet in the Irish countryside SUCKS

@SwitchForce
I said an ideal game store would have those things, not GameStop should do those things.

In my home town, Walmart popped up when I was a kid, and there was also a Kmart nearby, but neither sold games in the beginning. Soon they started selling games, and eventually their selection became on-par with GameStop except for the used stuff. I never said they were cheaper, I was just saying you used to only have local game stops and GameStop when it came to choices for where to buy games

Some private run game stores do these, and it makes them way better than Gamestop.

Just let me pick up my pre-orders of Zelda and Ni-No Kuni first

It's sad how I ordered 4 games online in the past two months because Gamestop nor any other brick-and-mortar store wishes to have proper stock of games. Shame on you, Gamestop, you used to carry everything, now you carry the same garbage like everyone else.

@Mr_Muscle it’s a lot of things- mostly hand tremors. Yo kai watch was pretty impossible to play. 😅

@Pixel-Florist I'm happy that you can at least find things to play. Sorry to hear about that!

@xmrmeow "Some private run game stores do these, and it makes them way better than Gamestop."

Really not where I am at I seen two of them close shop already. So that means nothing here.

@Dirty0814 I really hope this will happen.