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[OrtizTwelve]

One of my best friends worked at the local GameStop at our mall 2004-2006 or so. I remember being incredibly envious. It was nearly impossible to get a job there because every high school kid wanted to work there.

It is definitely sad to see it decline. I remember going to the mall with my mom as a kid and spending hours in Electronics Boutique while she shopped in department stores. The employees were all nice, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic. All of those EB stores around me eventually turned into GameStops, and they are now sad shells of their former selves.

Electronics Boutique was great. GameStop really destroyed it.

 

[Euler007]

They seem to keep on trucking regardless.

The meme crowd poured so much cash into that business that it paid off most debts. On January 31st it had more cash on its balance sheet than liabilities. Now they will invest that cash to make the company smaller and reduce losses, pretty much until it runs out of cash, which could be somewhere between 5 years to never if retards keep buying the ATM offerings.

 

[intbal]

They should sell booze.

Digital and cloud gaming is an apocalypse for them. But they've got all that physical store space. Hard liquor doesn't need refrigeration, so no need to refit the stores.
Most of their sales staff are likely depressed alcoholics anyway, so they'll understand their customers very well.

 

[Neon Xenon]

Every time one of these news pieces comes up about the (absolute) state of GameStop, it's just a reminder to me that GameStop even still exists.

 

[Z O N E]

They really should just rebrand into a tech shop.

Sell PCs, PC parts, games, consoles, the whole lot.

 

[Metnut]

Was at the mall on a rainy day with my lunatic 2.5 year old son letting him run around. Went into GameStop and got a physical Unicorn Overlord and a turtle stuffy (think it was something from Pokémon) for the boy. Seemed like the end of an era in there.

 

[dragonyeuw]

They really should just rebrand into a tech shop.

Sell PCs, PC parts, games, consoles, the whole lot.

I can't imagine why anyone serious about PCs wouldn't go to a Microcenter first, or order off Newegg or similar sites.

 

[Aesius]

Was at the mall on a rainy day with my lunatic 2.5 year old son letting him run around. Went into GameStop and got a physical Unicorn Overlord and a turtle stuffy (think it was something from Pokémon) for the boy. Seemed like the end of an era in there.

Same, actually. My wife and I took our boys (3 and 1) to the mall recently on a rainy day and ended up venturing into GS. I bailed when I realized I went to high school with the burned-out skullet guy behind the counter. I told my wife later that I desperately hope he's at least the GM of that place and not just a rank-and-file cashier in his mid-30s.

 

[MALpractice311]

There's no reason to go into a GameStop if you want to buys games. Ridiculously low stock of games you can get at basically any other retailer. Instead, the store is jam packed with shirts, action figures, plushies, Funkopops, and every other type of "geek" merchandise you can think of. There's no room to walk through the damn stores with all the garbage merch taking up all the floor space.

I know people keep saying no one buys games from them, but who buys all the garbage merch from them? Why have they gone so hard into the merch game?

 

[lem0n]

 

[TransTrender]

Over here they seem to keep barebone 'new' stock so I'm guessing unless you pre-ordered the game then they'll only have one (display) copy and then one other sealed copy for sale.
To me this seems like an obvious problem they're creating because it makes it harder to sustain their own ecosystem with trade-ins and used copy inventory because they're not bringing in any new inventory.

 

[darrylgorn]

Who buys games at gamestop anymore? Remember blockbuster?

 

[ReBurn]

They should try selling physical games. I hear the demand for those is really high.

 

[raduque]

I can't imagine why anyone serious about PCs wouldn't go to a Microcenter first, or order off Newegg or similar sites.

I don't have a microcenter within 8 hours, and I didn't like waiting for shipping, stolen packages, etc. I'd buy parts at a GameStop if they weren't unreasonably priced.

 

[Nydius]

I genuinely don’t know how GameStop has lasted this long. They started crapping the bed when they decided to get out of the “retro” game business and only take games from the past 1-2 generations. With the uptick in digital and the increase in online shopping, sticking exclusively to only the “lastest” generations was an inevitable death sentence.

If they had kept their retro gaming inventory, they could have easily remained relevant by pivoting to selling older devices and hard to find games. That’s what keeps smaller regional shops like eStarland afloat and it could have worked for GameStop too. Instead they became ThinkGeek stores with a handful of games.

Edit:

Electronics Boutique was great. GameStop really destroyed it.

I don’t know if you ever had or heard of Babbages but the were another electronics and game shop in the mall back in the day. Depending on what I was looking for, game wise, my mall visit list would look like:

EB -> Babbages -> GameStop -> Kay-Bee Toys.

 

[FalconPunch]

I would be sad for them if i didn't remember how they used to screw customers over in the past

that's why i stopped going to gamestop way before I became mainly a pc player and thus go digital

I don’t understand this sentiment at all. GameStop exists to provide immediate liquidity to those whose want it for their games/gaming products. It’s meant to be used by those who either needed immediate cash or didn’t want to go through the hassle of a private sale. As a result it can never offer private sale prices because it has to bear the risk of the asset.

The problem is that we have entitled people whining about trade in values/prices with absolutely no understanding of the pawn shop business. People wanting private sale prices with the convenience of immediate liquidity. A business like that cannot and will not ever exist.

 

[TheAtomicPile]

Over here they seem to keep barebone 'new' stock so I'm guessing unless you pre-ordered the game then they'll only have one (display) copy and then one other sealed copy for sale.
To me this seems like an obvious problem they're creating because it makes it harder to sustain their own ecosystem with trade-ins and used copy inventory because they're not bringing in any new inventory.

This lines up with my experience. The last couple of times I walked into a GameStop were to get Resident Evil 8 and Pokemon Violet shortly after their respective releases. Both times they were completely out of stock.

The very last time I bought anything from them was an online preorder of something that came with a preorder bonus. The game arrived late and the bonus was even later than that. Their support never responded to my request to know when the bonus was coming.

I'm guessing there's a growing population of people like me with recent negative experiences that are just writing GameStop off altogether.

 

[PSYGN]

Hastings was my Gamestop. I miss Hastings.

 

[Don Carlo]

Didn't really think a brand like GameStop would be getting Ls as well

 

[TheBomb]

I feel bad, but businesses come and go. It happens all the time. I say sell new games a lot cheaper than other retailers.

 

[dragonyeuw]

I don't have a microcenter within 8 hours, and I didn't like waiting for shipping, stolen packages, etc. I'd buy parts at a GameStop if they weren't unreasonably priced.

I should have added 'if convenient and applicable' to my earlier comment.

 

[flying_sq]

GameStop needs to be saved, teenage boys need a place to awkwardly flirt with a girl who also likes video games.

 

[nush]

I genuinely don’t know how GameStop has lasted this long.

Well, it almost didn't

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I just need them to stay open long enough to sell me a physical copy of TTYD on 5/23. Beyond that, I don't care what happens to them.

I bought TTYD for GameCube back in October 2004, and I plan to buy the remake for Switch for $60 at that same damn location. Close the loop. LOL

 

[RickMasters]

And then they sell those 20 games for 20 bucks each…. And if your lucky the disc didn’t look like it was used a coaster for somebody’s beer. You take it back…. Staff member looks at you like you did it…. Like it wasn’t actually he/ she that took the crappy discs in, in the first place. That was always my experience buying used games from my local game store in London back in the days. As soon as things went digital I left game store behind. That store closed down and now it’s a TK maxx.


I don’t miss it. But I do miss specialist importers, like shekana consoles/ console concepts in north London ( I bought my mega CD and my Japanese super fam icon from them back in the days) and CEX on Tottenham Court Road back in the day was a gold mine for my Japanese sega Saturn imports. Times have really changed.

 

[RickMasters]

The only thing that may "save" or at least extend GameStop's lifespan is the launch of the next Nintendo console, whenever that is.

Even then they are on borrowed time….. honestly suprised they have lasted this long.


I bet most people just end up ordering one of Amazon prime or some other online retailer.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Gamestop should rebrand from the ground up as a retailer for physical game media, but multi-gen. You could probably sustain a (smaller) business model of appealing to enthusiasts, collectors and retro dudes by having basically a chain store version of mom and pop retro trade in stores.

I could see a bunch of neckbeards and D&D Starbucks dudes perusing an aisle of N64 carts or whatever and having a gay old time. Keep new games, but no longer depend on them and fucking funko pops. It's cheaper acquiring most of these older games, physical preservationists will rejoice, and you'll have a bunch of people looking to trade in or buy Ancient shit. Have retro consoles and accessories and shit. Maybe have a comic or Manga section. Literally, there are so many ways to drag in different schools of nerd beyond giving $3.66 for a trade in a 60 dollar game and selling empty boxes with download keys.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Gamestop can't figure out retro games, places like Record Exchange don't have the pressure to sell current gen games to continue to live.

 

[reinking]

I was manager of an EB Games store when they were purchased by Gamestop. It went from being about the customers and "owning your store" to squeeze every nickel you can from customers. I left after a few years of GS because it no longer fit my personality.

 

[IDKFA]

Not surprising with physical sales reducing year on year.

 

[Holammer]

Another victory for Team Digital.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Most people just order from Amazon these days, or go to Best Buy. Gamestop is a pretty funny meme stock but they are little different from almost all other American specialty retailers who are dying or have died like Toys R Us and Guitar Center. Online has largely replaced specialty retail in almost every category except pet stores and there's certain reasons why pet stores continue to survive

 

[RoadHazard]

They still exist? Feels like they've been slowly going out of business for like ten years.

(They don't exist in Sweden anymore. Maybe not in Europe at all?)

 

[dem]

There is no reason for a dedicated game store these days.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Kings Field]

I remember when our malls were starting to fail and I would say, “GameStop will be the last store standing in that mall” because it was always busy. That was around 2004/2005.

Had a lot of good memories with GameStop, especially midnight releases for MW2, GOW, Injustice, Halo, etc dating all the way back when they were EB.

It sucks for nostalgic reasons mainly.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

pivtoing to pc could help.
there arent many microcenters, and if you'd rather go in and talk to a specialist, it might be a nice alternative to online ordering.
offer pc building services, RAM/PSU testing services, etc
sell used PC parts

keep selling console games.
support older consoles... repair services, used games, refurbished peripherals, etc.

and put one or two hot girls in each store.

 

[daxgame]

Time to put slot machines to stay afloat!

 

[NickFire]

pivtoing to pc could help.
there arent many microcenters, and if you'd rather go in and talk to a specialist, it might be a nice alternative to online ordering.
offer pc building services, RAM/PSU testing services, etc
sell used PC parts

keep selling console games.
support older consoles... repair services, used games, refurbished peripherals, etc.

and put one or two hot girls in each store.

I think your idea has potential if I am being honest. It kind of sounds like a return to their roots in a way. These places use to be actual gaming boutiques.

 

[Guerilla Munch]

I went to GameStop for the first time in years recently to trade my Series X and old lcd Switch toward a PS5, and literally all of their consoles and new games were above MSRP. Spider Man 2 bundles were $450-475, FFXVI was still $70 (it's $40 everywhere else, including PSN), etc. There's just no point in shopping there anymore

 

[JayK47]

When there is only digital left over, expect prices to get even worse. Especially for consoles, which have full control over their own digital stores. At least with PC, there is competition.

 

[radewagon]

There was really no way for GameStop to continue as a game retailer when 70%+ of game sales moved to digital format. The same fate befell Tower Records and Blockbuster.

There were a few things they could have done, actually.

• Quality over quantity. If Gamestop had bothered to start ensuring that their used products were in respectable condition, they could have become a great place for online sales. As it is, I will head to ebay for used games because at least on ebay I can get an idea of what I'm buying.
• New should mean new. I cannot stress enough how much this one stupid decision has destroyed their reputation. Gutting copies and selling them as new is bad enough, but the copies they sell as "new" aren't even in good condition. They're sometimes worse than the used products they sell.
• Retro games and consoles. Retro exploded during Covid. If they had bothered to make a significant effort to be part of that, they could have a whole new market to tap into.
• Basic repairs/mods. Cleaning fans, replacing thermal paste, swapping batteries, hdmi mods, screen mods. There are so many hardware services that they could have gotten into. They could have been the place to service older/aging consoles.
• Grading used. Game grading is very popular. As much as I hate the practice, they could have partnered with a grading company or started their own grading service for their used products.
• Limited Print/Boutique Labels. Companies like Limited Run are tapping into a desire to keep physical games alive. Gamestop could have partnered with them or even done it's own publishing of highly sought after games. Imagine if they tried to use their clout to release something like physical copies of Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

There are so many things they could have done if they cared, but they are a short-sighted scummy company that would rather sell used/new games in questionable condition, cheap trinkets, and memberships than do something substantial to save themselves.

 

[ReBurn]

There is no reason for a dedicated game store these days.

I don't know man, there's a really awesome independent game store near me that actually sells what people want. They have vintage systems and games and cater to collectors. They sell gaming merch that isn't tacky. They also offer better trades for current gen games than GameStop. GameStop can die, but I hope my indie shop lasts forever.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

I think your idea has potential if I am being honest. It kind of sounds like a return to their roots in a way. These places use to be actual gaming boutiques.

that stuff would actually get me to walk into a gamestop.

free RAM/PSU/mobo/whatever testing would be useful on occasion. instead of spending time on a forum, or troubleshooting yourself, just take your parts to get professionally tested. thatd be nice.
used PC parts trade-in? never seen that before anywhere. would be better than sketchy ass craigslist.
old console stuff (repairs, refurbishment, upgrades) may not be the most high-demand or profitable thing... but there's really no good current alternative. ebay/amazon/walmart is rife with counterfeits/misrepresented stuff. and it'd buy them some street cred.

but they'd need to develop a certification training process for their employees, so they actually know what theyre doing. plus everything else i mentioned = higher operating costs.

but, over time... gamestop might actually be seen as.... respectable.
and id actually go. my friends would too.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Makes sense if you’ve been in a GS recently. They have almost no stock for video games and have just become a retailer for “geek” merch.

I live in a pretty sizable metro in the northeast and the average store in my area (4 in a 15 mi radius) has a whopping 6 used games for XSX. Roughly twice that for PS5.

The new selection isnt much better either, seems like stores are getting their preorder allocations and maybe a few extra copies but that’s it. They do have plenty of stock online though, and seems like they just prefer being an online retailer.

Not entirely unique to them either. I was in Target last week and their game shelves were 80% empty for both Xbox and PS. Switch was best stocked but even that was mediocre.

Maybe suppliers are afraid of shipping stuff to GameStop because of an impending bankruptcy? Or maybe GameStop isn't paying the bills on time anymore?

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Should be renamed BoardGameStop. If you ever want to see the latest theme sets of Monopoly, walk into a Gamestop. Funko dolls must take up 30% of all wall racks.

For me, I'd convert to digital no matter what, but when I did buy discs (last one I bought was probably Witcher 3 with the comic book it came with), I still avoided Gamestop unless I had to dump a system and didnt want to go through Craigslist or Kijiji.

But they could had more business out of me if they did two key things:

1. Stop nagging me the second I walk in. Seemed like most stores had Radio Shack syndrome. You cant go 5 ft before a guy vulture eyes you like dinner making sure you know he's there ready to make a sale. Leave me alone. The only places I dont mind loud sales people are car dealerships because I want to know details and at some point you might want to test drive a car or sit in it and need help with the controls and details. But for video games, I dont think the avg gamer needs help from a clerk to learn about a game. Chances are good the customer knows more about the game than the clerk to begin with. So get out of my way.

2. When I'd scope out the used disc racks, a lot of the time it would be a mess. Either they had no time to organize it A-Z, or they purposely did that hoping they get extra sales off you as you skim the rack and eyeball a second game as an impulse purchase. I'm not that kind of shopper. If it's a mess I'm leaving. I know some people like to shop like that I dont. It's like places like Winners and Marshalls. Maybe there's some good deals, but I'm not rummaging through random racks of shirts and shoes hoping I find a diamond in the dirt.

 

[Beechos]

Do you hate money as well? Used games it's the best thing about Nintendo, I can have by kids play top releases for less than 15€ (difference between price paid new and when sold).

If no one is buying used they should then be perfectly fine with paying $100 for a game, after all people don't care about money. Then we don't need as many microtransactions in games to off-set high budgets.

Who the hell said physical games are bad. I can see you are already one of those "warriors".

My post was in response to why gamestop is dead. It's a fact that most games sold nowadays are digital. How can gamestop make money selling used games if most people buy digital games nowdays and have nothing to trade in for gamestop to resell??????

The only people who still buy physical are collectors, those with the purpose of reselling and when they do they sure as hell are not selling it to gamestop and some left over casuals. So that leaves what percentage of games people buy that will actually get traded to gamestop for them to resell for a huge profit????

 

[DaleinCalgary]

I hope there isn't any idiots that own stock here that was in on that sham.

 

[Beechos]

And in the cases where you are still buying/selling physical, there are much better options than trading your game( ebay, FB, local listings) for $2 to Gamestop for them to flip it for $40.

Yes which is why gamestop is dead their who business model revolved around huge profits reselling games. If no one is buying physical how are they going to have games to resell and people to resell them to. None of my local gamestops here in nyc even have a selection of used games to resell let along new ones.

 

[Beechos]

I'm surprised they never turned themselves into a sideshow collectable store. Those statues prob have some big ass margins. People would prob be more inclined to spend big bucks on a statue if they could see it in person. Having the statues alone on display would prob draw in alot of foot traffic and sign people up for a line of credit for a statue they cant afford.