Chances that gamestop will go out of business anytime soon?

What are the chances that gamestop might go out of business?

I dunno.. are you concerned they will be because they're your only local source for games or do you want them to be because of some grievance you have with them?

i have a giftcard i haven't used in years. i want to use up the credit on the card before gamestop closes.

Give it within five years. Gamestop is becoming a thing of the past imo. Especially with digital downloads taking over everything.

Really? I don't know about elsewhere, but here in Aus, physical game stores are still doing quite well... And I think it will continue to as long as digital prices stay as they are. When a digital game is more expensive to buy then a physical copy, something isn't right.

COD MW3 XBL Digital download ---> 65 US

COD MW X360/PS3 physical, NIB ------> as low as 25 US

Digital download ? GTFOH !!!

Well game sales are doing so badly in the US that some department stores are finding it's not even worth it at all to sell games.

They're slowly dying and thankfully Gamestop will be one of the ones leaving.

Why are you thankful but? Don't we want more stores to sell games? More competition.

Not likely for some time now, GameStop as a company is still expanding, even with the naysayers. On top of reinvesting money into making GameStop stores more profitable, they are also explanding into other industries as well. Like it or not, GameStop is not Radio Shack/Best Buy/KMart/Sears/Circut City and other retail chains that are failing or already failed.

if games will continue to support being resold as used games a crappy company like this can exist. but if not, they really have no place with places like amazon offering much cheaper new games then gamestop ever does, with superior hassle free service (from my experience anyways).

Since GameStop is an evolving company, its chances of going out of business is slim.

Anyway, is this supposed to be an anti-GameStop question?

They haven't entered Blockbuster levels of panic yet, but they're getting there. Wouldn't be surprised if they became a digital front exclusively, but it might take a while.

I posted that I'm asking because i have a giftcard i haven't used in a long time, if gamestop is going to close soon, i want to use the credit before that happens.

What panic do you see?

I think it's inevitable. Not soon but I think it will happen. Video games, among other forms of media, are becoming much more popular to distribute through digital means. Soon we'll download our consoles to our living rooms.

I cant believe people are actually posting in this absolutely pointless and ridiculous thread.

"i have a giftcard i haven't used in years. i want to use up the credit on the card before gamestop closes"

Are you kidding me!?

I was about to say, I think in five years, we're gonna be looking at Gamestop as a Blockbuster. And who knows, maybe even Redbox is gonna expand even more and possibly even take over.

Maybe within the next 10 years. But not any time soon.

Who knows? and why do you think about that? getting a job there or planning to invest a large sum of money?

Yeah, that's what I was thinking and that's a good thing! I'm not a fan of them, but if they do go digital, it will keep the other established online retailers from jacking up the prices.

I don't see Gamestop closing it's doors anytime soon. I see them expanding their tablet/mobile segment. They may restructure and maybe get a name change to reflect that they're more than just games. They're also about to enter the retro gaming scene, which is big. There are plenty of stores that have been opened for years focusing on retro games, so there's a market there. I can see a big flux of people rushing to Gamestop to pick up an NES game, if the prices are right, as opposed to having bidding wars on ebay.

For as many people that think Gamestop is a rip off, you have others that think they're convenient. I have friends that have no interest in keeping their games when they're done. A quick trip to Gamestop gets them a new game at a reduced (trade-in) price. No shopping/hunting on Amazon or Ebay. No shipping/receiving to worry about. No waiting for the game to arrive. To some people, that convenience is worth the $5 or $10 they'd save by buying somewhere else.

Anyway, OP, you don't have to worry about the store not being there. There may be an expiration on a gift card, however. So you may want to go soon and at least find out if it still works.

Well maybe if they quit cheating for selling games to them maybe they will get more people.

I don't know.

With companies pushing to long term rentals (digital) I can see them losing out.

Gamestop has nearly 6,500 locations worldwide and staffs about 17,000 full time employees. Their stock price is trading at about $40 per share (higher than Nvidia and AMD combined) and they have a number of exclusivity agreements with various game publishers to provide exclusive content for customers who pre-purchase games through them. Even if their entire business model went completely south tomorrow, it would take a long time for them to completely fold and it's more likely they would just be acquired by another retailer instead of ceasing to exist.

The landscape of gaming has changed considerably throughout the years, but Gamestop has been adjusting with it. Companies like Software ETC and Electronics Boutique (the precursor to EB Games) started as PC software stores. Now, PC games are the smallest fraction of their overall sales compared to console and used game revenue. Used game sales account for almost half of their total profits these days.

Also, Gamestop has adjusted their business model to actually benefit from digital download sales. Gamestop sells digital cash gift cards and actual digital content redeemable cards. In Q1, 70% of Ubisoft's Season Pass sales were sold through brick and mortar stores, and most of those were sold through Gamestop locations.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/14/digital-distribution-isnt-killing-retailer-gamestop-its-only-making-it-stronger/

Short answer: Like them or not (and I do not) they aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

-Byshop

If everyone would just stop buying from them, they would in fact be forced to leave.

1. Stop buying games from Gamestop.

2. Stop FUCKING buying games from Gamestop.

3. Find a non-shithead company to buy games from.

4. ????

5. PROFIT!

@hydralisk86: i doubt that they go out of soon but i def wouldnt be buying any stock in there company

I hope gamespot goes first so I can stop seeing these dumb threads.

@Jaysonguy: oh jayson, always full of shit and proud of it

I'm resurrecting this because as a gamer and an investor I've thought about investing in Gamestop myself. They are floating around 15-17 dollars a share. Their all-time high was around 62 a share in 2007.

I personally think they will survive for the foreseeable future. They sell used games, NES games, retro consoles, accessories, and collectables. They also own Simply Mac stores, and ThinkGeek.

That said, I don't think they will EVER be what they were 10 and 15 years ago. They also currently pay a dividend of close to 10%. For those that don't know what that is, it's cash paid directly to shareholders as a return for owning part of the company. If the company becomes less profitable, dividends will be the first thing to get cut or eliminated.

Also, someone up above pointed out share price relative to AMD and Nvidia. Share price by itself has NOTHING to do with the size of a company. In other words, you can't just assume one company is twice the size of the other simply because it cost 20 dollars per share versus 10. I know this site is about gaming, but I feel this is important so I want to clear up confusion.

Stock price is largely based on stock splits, and company policy. Gamestop's Market capital is 1.6 billion. This means at the current market price per share of around 15 dollars it would cost 1.6 billion to buy the entire company or 100% of the shares.

The total number of shares would be approx 1.6 billion divided by 15-16 meaning they have about 105 to 107 million shares outstanding. They could just as easily have 1,600 shares at the cost of 1 million dollars a share if they wanted to, or any combination permutation they want. Obviously at 1 million dollars per share very few people would want to invest in them, and they would be hard to trade, but you get the point.

This doesn't change the size of the company itself. The market capital or the cost of the entire company dictates the size. Companies can have stock splits or REVERSE splits to increase the price. For example Gamestop could reduce the number of shares they have by half but double the price to 30 bucks per share tomorrow by using a reverse split. This doesn't by itself generally hurt or benefit shareholders.

If you had 10 shares for 15 bucks you'd have 5 worth 30 bucks. It's all a matter of how you want to split the pie. Hopefully that makes sense, because I feel its a source of a lot of confusion. Having more shares at a cheaper price can have its advantages and disadvantages. More shares allows you to invest more of a fixed dollar amount versus a fixed share amount. For example if Gamestop was 10 thousand dollars a share, you would have to risk at least 10k to invest in them at all. Maybe I don't want to risk 10k in them, and I only want to risk 1k 2k or 150 dollars in them etc. You get the picture.

That said, Gamestop has been struggling to some degree no doubt, and it is the reason they've gone from 62 to 15 dollars a share over the last 10 years with current share dilution of about 106 million shares. That said, I'm doubting they will go broke anytime soon. I'm considering them for my portfolio too, however I wouldn't risk investing a lot of money in them. Make sure they're a small part of your portfolio at this point.

With Toys 'R' Us going bankrupt and not finding any suitors for a restructuring, I think it's only a matter of time before Gamestop kicks the bucket. That said, Gamestop has a lot better relationships with their customers and lower costs of doing business.

I think Steam and console online stores will gradually eat their lunch with their massive sales and free games via PlayStation Plus and Miscrosoft's Live service. I don't think they'll sell enough gaming paraphernalia to make up for it. I do hope I am wrong though.

OP:

answer: high...very very high

The Canadian version EBGames are selling more and more video game shit than video games... like 80% of the store is about shirt, toys, collectible, or cloths than actual video games.

I think they'll be here to stay for a while. They may not sell as many games but they own ThinkGeek so they make a lot on merchandise as well.