GameStop Shares Drop Significantly After Xbox Game Pass Announcement

GameStop shares dropped dramatically today following Microsoft's announcement of an ambitious-sounding Xbox One digital game program where subscribers can get access to a lot of games for $10/month.

VentureBeat noticed that GameStop shares fell by almost 8 percent today. Shares closed today down by 7.8 percent.

The new Xbox subscription program, Xbox Game Pass, could have a negative impact on GameStop's sales, which tend to focus on second-hand games. As VentureBeat explains: "Game Pass looks like it will primarily traffick in older games that people would typically would purchase used."

Some of the confirmed games so far include Halo 5, Mad Max, Saints Row IV, and Payday 2. The catalog will include Xbox One and backwards-compatible Xbox 360 games, updated every month.

Xbox Game Pass is similar in structure to EA Access. After EA announced this in 2014, GameStop's shares dropped significantly as well, before rebounding later.

The new Xbox subscription program is currently available on Xbox One (with a limited selection of games) for testers, with a full rollout slated for this spring.

We have contacted GameStop to see if the company has a statement to share regarding Xbox Game Pass.

For more on Xbox Game Pass, check out GameSpot's previous coverage, including a list of all the confirmed games here.