GameStop to Close 100+ Stores

Thinking about it: Amazon has become the Netflix of retailers, while GameStop may soon become the Blockbuster Video of retailers.

It just shows how technology and the times change the market.

Yeah after I learned about Amazon's discount on games I stopped going to gamestop. And I get how gamestop works but jesus that trade in value is crap and the point reward system isn't that great either. Especially when they want you to buy used and sell back other games for barely a fourth of what they are worth. But yet they make the new game discounts coupon point cost about double. In short I don't visit them anymore. Also consoles are not dying. Geez you still have online and other retailers to buy video game console and various other gaming needs from duh.

It amounts to 2-3% of its world wide stores. Its not the end as of yet, but it is an indication that digital sales are a thing for console games numbers. Numbers that aren't charted but when the biggest physical retailer in the US lost near 14% it doesn't take the Dark Knight to figure this out.

And well that's life. Devs deserve to earn from their creation selling. The used games sales is blow to devs imo. Gamestop makes the money.

@Litchie: It was in a mall, in my defense. I did not go seeking GS. I went seeking other things and GS just happened to be there.

IN MY DEFENSE. Because now one has to defend their choice to go to GS. Dark times for the controversial chain.

Hope we keep at least one here. We do have a independent VG store locally too, so it's nice to have a dedicated store to shop.

The last GameStop I was in was halfway filled with that Funko shit and it was a small enough store as it is.

@silversix_: Walmart sucks their game selection is trash there's times they don't stock certain platforms game

I tried getting driver San Francisco for Wii they never had it and same for countless other Wii games

Does that includes EB Games?

another metro detroiter on the boards?

Gamestop will be completely gone in the next 10 years. It's a dead market. The only reason it still exists is because of crappy internet connections in the us. which are probably in 10 year time filtered out. Then it's most likely people will move the all digital route with it. Much like what europe did.

I give it 10 years before it goes out of business completely unless they change the business model.

Digital gaming is going to become more prevalent and will become more popular. They need to seriously rethink their business model or fear going out of business like radioshack and Blockbuster.

Maybe they need stop pressuring their employees to sell shitty warrantys.

Sucks for people losing their job, but lets face it, their shoddy business practices of basically being a pawn shop (which is exactly what they are. they have a pawn shop license) and annoying upsell policies, and in a world where we are shifting to more digital content then physical it was inevitable. I've seen music stores close over my lifetime. and electronics stores. the wiz, the wall, circuit city etc. Never good to see it happen but times changes and so do business models.

The heck, GameStop has 6600 stores? That's insane. I am not an American but I didn't think GameStop was that huge.

@Gatygun: Lol, 10 years and they'll still be around, people love physical games and media. I remember people saying the same thing about CDs ... guess what they're still around.

Retail is dead. So is storing data on discs for mass distribution.

This is good news. Those people will find other jobs.

I haven't been to one in years myself. Will probably go the way of blockbuster in the long run. I am worried this could hurt the used game market. I do not like digital only games especially with no discount.

I just don't want to see the day where games go all digital. I prefer a physical copy.

There will never be a world with only one type of distribution method. There are just too many variables: Internet speed/location, collectors, etc...

But I do see a world where 90%+ software sales are digital because it just makes the most sense to the companies who have to develop and distribute software.

More likely a move to increase profit through decreasing spending than reacting to falling sales.

Meh, I'm not suprised. The last time I purchased game from a game store was in 2008. Purchasing games physical and digital games are usually cheaper online.

They won't be missed.

Gamestop is legit stuck in 2004. Their strategy on the video game market is monotonous and senseless. They failed to capitalize markets on the age of smartphones and tablets and horrendously failed to keep up with Amazon and Bestbuy with pre-order incentives and discounts.

They are a walking fossil. And the only good thing they have going on for them currently is the trade-in value for current gen consoles that Amazon and Bestbuy have not been able to incentivise yet, outstandingly.

That's because gamestop sought to annihilate all competition. Its a shame for anyone that lost their job but Gamestop is bad for the industry and the consumer. At the end of the day this is likely just cutting the fat from all the unnecessary stores that litter cities. There's no reason to have 3 stores in the space of a 10 minute drive from each other.

No biggie. I think and hope they'll still be here for awhile. But with bigger retail stores like Walmart, Target, BestBuy still selling games on top of other products more people buy, it might be hard for GS to continue business as usual. That's why you see them try to sell other things in stores now like clothes and mobile phones.

It's been over a decade since the last time I traded or sold anything in GS, or just in general. And with major gaming companies like Xbox being better and being more consumer friendly with digital content because they support backward compatibility and rewards incentive to get digital content free or discounted, it makes it more convenient to go digital with consoles today. In the end I still think they will always be and should always be an option for buying games physically, along side with digital content options becoming more & more consumer friendly.

I kinda thought gamestop was going downhill when they took out all the TVs and the systems demos.

Yeah if they didn't have toys and t-shirts stands the middle of the space is literally empty like some of the vape shops.

Where are you even at? They still have demos at my local Gamestop? (The only one they took down was Wii U for obvious reasons)

My local mall used to have 3 of them. Now they're all closed down

Yes, yes it is a sign of the end. When a company starts closing hundreds of stores, they are not likely to rebound. People were saying blockbuster was safe for years, and people have been saying Radio Shack will rebound for years. Gamestop's business model is obsolete, and nobody needs them. This does not even touch how much they screw consumers over on a daily basis either.

I don't disagree. But they aren't closing shop all together in the next 12 months.

This... whilst Gamestop (still branded EB Games here in Aus) can really annoy me and are sometimes a complete rip-off, I wouldn't want them to disappear. I still rely on them for a lot of my gaming purchases.

And I don't know how Gamestop's practices/customer service differs to EB Games here in Aus (I'm assuming they're similar), but most of the time they're pretty decent. And they offer a price matching service here in Aus, so you end up paying a lot less if you know what you're doing. Plus the 10 day change-of-mind return policy is pretty sweet.

This... They never have any real sales. Buy back games for 1/5 of the price you paid for it and then sell it at 75-80% of the retail price. I can get most of my games cheaper at Fry's Electronics or EBay.

Not to mention how Walmart decimates small business owners.

@nintendoboy16: Memphis...every gamestop i went to there is no TV showcase, demo, or anything.

Especially there is this one huge gamestop store but there isn't any demos or anything. There were only racks, cardboard cutouts of promo games, t-shirt stands, funko, and a bargain bin just to fill up space in the middle of the floor.

Gamestop do the same thing game did in UK over expand, high prices, crappy trade ins and failing to evolve. A gamestation opened up near where I live only lasted a few months. The store I use called Graingergames look like saints compared to Gamestop. I have never left that store feeling annoyed.