EB Games Canada To Rebrand To GameStop By The End Of This Year

Its funny that for a while, we did have GameStops here, until GameStop and EB merged and switched former GameStops into EB. Now EB is out (probably for good) and the GameStop name reigns supreme.

It doesn’t make a big difference to me, especially since the two closest EB locations near me closed down in the last year and half, but its also kinda funny that this is just another weird effect from the big GameStop stock squeeze.

And how long do we think Gamestop will last? The writing is in the wall I think.

Sorry, but lipstick on a pig.

Or something.

Weird that they would rebrand to a name with a worse reputation.

For me it will always be EB Games, even if it been quite a while since I bought something there lol. I prefer to support local video game store. People who really like video game. 😁

I suspect that it's only a matter of time before this spills into Australia as well. I noticed on my receipts that it read something to the effect of "GameStop Inc. trading as EB Games".

And while EB Games doesn't exactly have the best reputation, I think the branding (and logo) is far, far superior to the rather bland looking GameStop branding.

They just sell a bunch of junk for junky-style collectors these days so whatever

@Silly_G that is what I am wondering as well... I may live in the US, but I visited Australia back in October of 2018, and I remember seeing EB Games there, so when I saw this article I began to wonder if the EB Games in Australia could be rebranded soon to Game Stop as well.

Seems like what will probably cost a lot of money for little to no real benefit. I mean, they're gonna have to redo the signs for all their stores, probably issue new uniform shirts or at least nametags to employees, and alter all of their marketing materials too.

All to try and keep a sinking ship afloat? Sorry folks, brick and mortal stores like this are on their way out. They don't offer the consumer any real benefit over ordering online.

Tell me why I should get in my car, drive into town, go into a physical store and buy a new game at 60 dollars, when I can order the exact same game and have it mailed to my door at no extra charge?

It's unfortunate for the employees. I understand that. But there's no helping that. There's no changing this tide. Unless brick and mortal stores can come up with something that is actually better than online retailers, it's a sinking ship. It's just a matter of how long until it finally goes under.

I don't expect there to be much of anything besides restaurants and grocery stores in the future. And a handful of very specific stores that deal in goods or services that cannot be reasonably shipped. Like fresh food, hair salons, and the like.

@Heavyarms55 I have to agree completely. I can maybe see Game Stop staying afloat as a "online only" store front, where people can buy the games through their website, and have them shipped that way.

I mean if it is one of the few ways for someone to get a physical copy without having to order through Walmart/Amazon, then it might be a decent alternative. There are quite a few people who are starting to wake up and realize how crappy Walmart/Amazon really are (especially Amazon). So I wouldn't be too surprised if a change to a online only storefront does some good for Game Stop in the long haul.

I miss FuncoLand

That will solve the company's problems!

It'll always be EB Games to me

Some of my fondest memories of going to malls or in Downtown Toronto are tied to going to EB Games to pick up new releases like buying the X Legacy Collection on Switch at launch or the Deluxe Edition of Final Fantasy VII Remake that came with the Sephiroth steelbook

@NinChocolate
Yeah I used to go to the one where I live because they also sold ds games at one point, but they don’t anymore so now it’s all funko pops nobody wants and clothes.

Oh and video games too, almost forgot they sold those because they aren’t good at keeping their stocks up.

@Kyloctopus I haven't actually been in a brick and mortar game store in years.

Don't know how people feel about EB Games since I'm American, but the GameStop brand is associated unanimously with unethical business practices. This is like if BP changed their name to "We Caused A Big Oil Spill." It doesn't exactly help your image.

I don't support GameStop. Their practices are too shady for me. I'm not in Canada, but I'm only about 1 1/2 hours from the border.

As an American I actually miss EB Games and think the name brings a more positive image than GameStop.

I buy all my physical games used from EB games. They have decent sales every once in a while, like buy one get one 30-50% off.

That sucks. I’ve shopped at Electronics Boutique as long as I can remember.

Our local EB Games has a great staff who are personable and love games. They've recommended things I like never would have played otherwise. Give me brick and mortar any day.

Now I no longer have a reason to mention both EB Games and GameStop whenever in a discussion about game prices..... I was getting rather annoyed by the exclusion of one of the two in many chats.

Well whatever gamestop calls its stores in whatever country. They have big problems.
Couldn't name last game I bought from them as they are insanely pricey compared to amazon and online yokes but also likes of smyths and argos.
So they always seem to be 5 to 10 more expensive than the next dearest option

EB Games before the (2005ish) merger with GameStop was a much better company.

Still kinda miss the real EB Games.

Well in my town we once had three games stores. The Game, Gamestation and EB.

EB changed to Gamestation, so we then had two Gamestations and a Game.

One Gamestation closed, that left two game shops.

The Game bought Gamestation, we then had two Game shops in town. One eventually closed leaving us with just one shop. The Game.
Then they closed a lot of their stores, now we have none.

Anyone remember the name FuncoLand?

Most GameStop exclusives were also available at EB...

The EB nearest to my house and the one I've dealt with for years is actually really well run and the employees and manager are great. They often send people to a nearby locally owned used game store if they don't have a game in stock.

I suspect in the coming month's we will see an article about stores closing also so they don't have to spend the money on remodelling of signs/colour. My city has 3 EB's, I wouldn't be surprised one or even two end up closing. Happened when Best Buy decided to drop the Future Shop brand.

Gamestop merged with EB Games like 10 years ago here.

100% of stores in Scandinavia were closed 1 year ago as noone buys physical there.

@Natsura Yeah but you can also order online from places like Target and Best Buy and such too.

But I do agree that I could see them remaining online.

I use Amazon a lot and think they're a very useful service. The issue is their lack of competition. The only thing driving them to improve working conditions is the bad publicity.

But if there was a strong rival with better conditions... well you can see where I'm going with this.

I want to say that I'm not entirely cool with this, but I haven't shopped at EB Games in years. I'm all digital now and I get hardware through Best Buy 🤷‍♂️

It's a foolish waste of money. I have never heard of anyone wanting said change so I assume Shareholders are your main one there. It seems dumb to link your store's name to the failing company as well but again likely Shareholders.

As for GameStop exclusives we typically still got something in Canada. For example the original Diamond and Pearl pre order we got a DS case instead of the stylus topper. To me it means the end of this year instead of looking for what is EB Games exclusive I will have to look for the GameStop exclusives based on country and I am sure that will be easy to discover (eye roll).

@Aurumonado And how long do we think Gamestop will last? The writing is in the wall I think.

Just clean the wall then.

I haven't shopped at EB games in a long time. I usually find better deals at my local Jumbo Video for used games.

When I was a kid (in the US) I remember traveling to the "Big city" (Green Bay) mall and being so excited to shop in Electronics Boutique. Computer games! When I was in college, I worked at an "EB Games". After college, I spent a year as store manager of an EB Games right when Gamestop bought the company.

We were all really unhappy with that. I know we were biased, but we all thought EB was the better store - better prices on used games, especially. I left before the stores started changing names, that was a slow process.

So please run by me again how a name change will help with "regional exclusives"? You can change a name all you want but that doesn't mean you'll have the same merchandise in all regions. Compare Home depot US with Home Depot Canada and the lack of variety in the later is astonishing. Even NETFLIX between countries is very different.

Also a little worried Canadians wont take well to this change (even though its the same company, it might be seen as a case of "USA encroaching on Canadian commerce"). Which is a bit of an issue/bone-of-contention in some parts

Hard pass as it is, I'll keep getting my games at Toys R Us thanks!

@Echostory I sort of feel that way. I haven't shopped at Best Buy since they dropped and shutdown Future Shop. I never cared for the BB brand and preferred FS.

I know Zellers was in a poor state (and was owned by an American who did try to keep them going), when Target eventually bought up those stores, I pretty much never stepped foot inside one as the Target brand meant nothing to me...and we all know what a disaster Target turned out to be, only strengthening Walmarts hold on the market today.

Even though this is a rebranding and not an ownership change, I just get the feeling this will be used as an excuse to "downsize" some markets. And if they do that, I absolutely won't give GameStop the time of day, as the GS brand to me is horrible based strictly on all the comments over the years from Americans who either shop or worked there.

Cool. I always thought it wierd we didn't have gamestop

Ahh, I remember when EB became GameStop here. That's basically when I stopped shopping there. Remember that yellow store theme? Ugh!

@Heavyarms55 Which is why some of the stores are manipulating online sales to "in store only" to force people back into stores.

I agree, mostly. Especially with US car culture retail stores are almost entirely pointless if not sadistic. And yet, it's also depressing. I don't do "travel", my idea of "getting out" was always checking out what's in stores. I don't really do restaurants or dining or any of that "service" garbage unless it's a birthday or something. So in this new landscape, I doubt I'll ever actually leave home for any reason other than places that are mandatory to go ever again. Any time I do go out I just get angry seeing nothing bout houses, offices, medical campuses, and restaurants. EVERYWHERE is "flyover country" now, there's no actual reason to go anywhere at all, ever.

Gamestop's name is mud in many circles. Maybe EB Games is also mud in Canada. There hasn't been an EB Games brand in the US for a long time.

This will mean absolutely nothing in terms of getting "GameStop exclusive" promos here. EB Games already had those. And I agree with other commenters. GameStop's name has a really bad reputation all over the world. EB Games Canada kind of avoided that because it wasn't in your face that the two companies are actually the same. I actually see in Canada this backfiring on them.

@Silly_G Agreed, GameStop's logo is hideous....like most American corporate logos are.

GameStop, the store chain that bought out all the video game stores I loved and ruined video game stores for everyone. The sooner they go away the better off the industry will be. We don't need them anymore, most people buy their games digitally these days and the people who still buy physical games usually order them online, and GameStop is one of the worst stores to order from.

@Maulbert Yes, they had one close by where I grew up. It was a totally different atmosphere from GameStop. Funcoland was just such a fun place for me to visit as a kid by comparison. I remember they always had a bunch of demo consoles setup for all the various platforms, each having different games for me to check out and they were all the full games as well. I remember I would just hang out there playing with their demo console while my parents were shopping at some other stores in the same shopping center. They also had a great selection of classics and usually had pretty good prices on their used games, and the staff was passionate about games and very helpful.

Then GameStop bought them out and completely changed all of that. All the demo consoles were taken out, their game selection wasn't nearly as good, and the price for their used games went up, usually only discounting used games $5 off the full retail for a new copy. It also no longer had that fun and passionate gamer atmosphere, the employees seemed to quickly become the type of people you would see working at a drug store or supermarket, no passion for gaming just working a retail job for a paycheck.

Remember when social media and articles everywhere were screaming from the rooftops on how GameStop will cease to exist?

Ah, good times.

Now, my main question. What's gonna happen to EBX?

People don't get it - online store charge for returns and in-store doesn't unless it was opened. How idiotic are people to think online is better. Plus in-store can exchange faster if the product doesn't work or is bad has a faster turn around.

Sad to see the name go.

I remember going to Electronics Boutique in high school. Back then I used to call it EB, because I was just too lazy to say Electronics Boutique! LOL. "I'm going to EB!"

Then years later the signs actually changed to EB Games! LOL.

Now-a-days, a lot of the EB Games around me have closed down. 2 near my work. And 1 in my home town. But we still have 1. My daughters and I drop in every now-and-then to browse around. I look at the used (recharged) games. And that is where we buy our Roblox and Steam cards, and Harry Potter stuff.

Idea: Now that Disney Stores are closing, maybe GameStop can bring in more Disney merchandise?

What people don't get is Online Retailer only exclusive have no incentive to get you to buy it. They charge what they want and do you have a choice - NO. They make the choice for you but a Retail footprint they have to incentives you to come and you get perks for buying in person or PreOrder to pickup. Also Online has no reason to give discount since they have no footprint to bother with and only profits to gain. And returns aren't made to be easy for Online returns to start with. They rather take money then invest in the consumer. Everyone here forgets once a Retail goes Online can charge what price they want and you have no choice or say what shows up to buy and those without internet well tough luck for exclusives. But as anything people forget how much they really need a retail store compare to online store. Have issues you have to talk to a person - Online you wait to talk to a bot or person if you get that far and they follow a script and if yours don't match they don't help.

@ValZ I just went to a mall that had an EBX store, and yeah it is now changed to GameStop.