Is The Future of GameStop in Trouble?

With recent news of GameStop looking for outside investors to buyout the troubled company, after CEO and board member shake ups. It may look like the writing is on the wall for the brick and mortar retailer. With GameStop's troubled future, is this the beginning of the end for physical gaming market? Can GameStop adapt to the changing marketplace, or is it too late?

[CyberSentinel]

Good Riddance.

[darthv72]

when they added an uber level to their members plan it really turned me off. That meant they got enough people to be rewards members that they needed to invent an even more scam way to make money. Like those fast pass at amusement parks. If you are fast pass member, you skip all the peasants waiting in line but if everyone is a fast pass member then you are back to waiting again unless they create the uber pass membership for $$ amount more.

I know retail has taken a hit across the board for the likes of walmart, game, best buy and such but it isnt just because of an increase in digital sales. It's also because of Amazon having killer deals on games and lowering their prices to remain competitive. Gamestop has nobody to blame but themselves.

[admiralvic]

"when they added an uber level to their members plan it really turned me off."

For me it's comparison shopping for things like collectibles. An amazing example of how awful GameStop is can be seen with the Breath of the Wild Link Nendoroid.

The current listed MSRP is $69.97, which isn't too insane until you look into it. Like, the Japanese MSRP is 5,800 yen or $52.71 and even with the absurd 2,000 yen shipping GSC charges, the price shipped is $70.88. This means it is actually cheaper for me to buy the figure from Japan and pay an absurd amount for shipping than just going to GameStop (tax brings the price above $71). Even this is something I can overlook, but Best Buy has a MSRP of $59.99, so it's essentially $10 cheaper to go here than there and that is insane.

I mean, how can a company make moves like this and be surprised that they're going under?!

[Muzikguy]

So true about the amusement park passes.

[zackeroniii]

What did gamestop do to you?

[Magnetar]

“I see your power rewards card has expired, would you like to renew?
No.
Are you sure, you could save two dollars?
No..
Would you like to reserve anything?
No...
Would like disk protection?
No....”

[Muzikguy]

I won’t miss them. It would be nice to have a store like what they used to be back in the day before they started selling all kinds of things that aren’t game related. It’s stuff like this that seems to give everyone the impression that physical medium is dying. It’s not. It’s just that bad companies are.

[JohnRambo392]

You don't care for the people who will be losing their jobs? We're supposed to be the richest country but companies are always trying to find ways of cutting people out of their jobs.

[Goldenhawk521]

Awwww, so sorry John :( You’re right! Everyone should care about the employess not losing their jobs! We need to start donating to those poor folks at places like EA, Activision, GameStop, and other places that we feel that people may lose their jobs at 🙀! For now on, we need to give in on everything these cashiers have to shill , otherwise they may lose their jobs, oh no!! 😥 Give everyone all your money and forget about consumer discretion. Don’t make the choice in purchasing what you want for the purpose of consumer enjoyment, we need to buy everything we don’t need or want, so we can support our fellow people!

[LOGICWINS]

I actually had a decent experience at Gamestop when I sold my PS4 Pro for a new Switch last week during their $300 trade in offer. I expected them to charge me tax, but it was a direct swap. Walked away with a new console, an aluminum case, and a one-year Powerup Membership (also traded in my 2nd Dualshock 4). Didn't spend a dime.

I would still recommend Estarland to anyone that wants to trade in their games/consoles(despite the cumbersome shipping process), but Gamestop occasionally has fantastic deals every now and then.

[CBaoth]

u got fleeced. Should've just bought a Switch outright. Thank god for Hollow Knight or I wouldn't have turned on my Switch all year.

[Thomaticus]

That's why it was a smooth transaction. lol

[LOGICWINS]

Thanks for your input. I'll have to check out Hollow Knight. Thanks for the recommendation!

[TheCommentator]

With GameStop's troubled future, is this the beginning of the end for physical gaming market?

No, physical gaming media will be fine for quite a while. It's the beginning of the end of a company who lost focus on providing excellent customer service for gaming. Maybe if customers weren't treated strictly as a financial metric, the employee/customer relationship would have flourished and the company would too.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

I read that first sentence and headed for the dislike, but glad I waited.

GameStop has had so many chances to fix their own issues, and instead they kept digging a deeper hole.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

Maybe you should make sure you always completely read a comment before just clicking away at the dislike.

[gangsta_red]

GameStop became a chore to go to once they required their employees to hard sell you extra crap.

[Muzikguy]

Exactly

[Derceto]

Redundant question. Of course it is.

[Timesplitter14]

The future of Gamestop has been in trouble for at least 10 years now

[GrimDragon]

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[UCForce]

I prefer my local gaming store than GameStop. Seriously, GameStop is just so bad.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

I don't want GameStop gone, they're my primary store along with Best Buy (until GCU is gone) and Amazon, but they need to overhaul and fast.

[Kokyu]

No not the market just gamestop thank god

[KwietStorm_BLM]

It really sucks that a lot of great mom & pop stores closed because of this abomination, and now if they were to disappear, it would actually be a bad thing for a lot of people who either don't buy online or don't have access to games otherwise. It would hurt industry sales. Only thing I could hope for is those good stores to open again.

[blackblades]

I haven't shopped at gamestop since I bought my ps4 in 2014. Haven't bought a game there since he'll I can't even remember it's been so long.

[smolinsk]

It's way too expensive... Silly expensive, if they don't fix the crazy prices on used stuff it's goodbye gamestop.

[Cyb3r]

They dont give much for trade credit they only offered my €24 for Detroit Become human and €28 in credit which is insulting I only go to CEX to trade games now. I remember back when I had a Wii U I bought the Monster hunter game for that platform I paid €75 for it they also tried to force me to pay gameprotect insurance (€5) for it I refused when I played the game it wasnt my cup of tea so I called them to trade the game in and they offered me €14 cash and €18 credit. The worst thing is they never take no for an answer when I tell them I dont want to pay for insurance on a game. game protect is just another clever way of extracting money form their customers. An the loyalty card offers nothing to encourage customers

[WickedLester]

I used to be a store manager back when it was still called Electronics Boutique. When I first started with the company, we all wore dress shirts and ties and our inventory was quite diverse, as was our clientele. In addition to console videogames, we sold a ton of PC software and not just games. We sold a lot of productivity software, educational software, along with PC accessories like keyboards, joysticks, controllers, graphics cards, hard drives, sound cards, RAM, etc. We were courteous, knowledgeable, helpful, and professional. We looked professional and acted professional. We knew our customers by name and they knew us. We were a large chain of stores but we operated like a "mom and pop" shop. Back then it was a joy to work for the company when it was privately owned. However once the company went public, everything changed and I just couldn't change with it, so I boughed out.

Now when I walk into a Gamestop, I feel like I've stepped into something that's a cross between Spencers and Hot Topic. The stores are dark and gloomy and NOBODY looks or acts professional. Every employee looks like they were just let out of their parent's basements, unwashed and ungroomed. They dress like they raided their hampers that morning with absolutely no uniformity to their appearance whatsoever. Nobody greets you. Nobody acts like they are genuinely interested in helping you

[Nacho_Z]

Pretty sure it's going to go the way of Blockbuster. It's a shame because I've picked up some great games, like Oblivion, that I was clueless about and got on advice but these days the internet conquers all.

[Bobafret]

Good riddance, hopefully more mom and pop stores will fill the void.

[CurbStompin]

I was a Game Crazy manager from 2005-2010 before Hollywood Video took us down with them. I ran my store just like the above mentioned, we knew everyone by name, we treated every customer with respect. We let everyone try any game before buying in the store. Times were great, my store increased sales year over year. GameStop was our only direct competitor with the exception of Play and Trade, which those store were just garbage.

[john416]

My local GameStop is always a good experience I usually hangout and talk about games for awhile they never push me to buy anything or do anything I want I guess it’s a store by store basis for how customers are treated

[ibrake4naps]

As long as there's somewhere I can trade and sell games, I don't care

[owwie]

They can easily fix their issue by making a classic gamestop rent shop since hollywood is essential out and there's options like redbox

[SkippyPaccino]

I'll never be scared of physical games going away... People still buy vinyl records...

[Antifan]

If Gamestop goes, so does used games. People looking for them to fail, yet don't realize they're the only pillar prompting up the used game market.

[Goldenhawk521]

GameStop has gotten so bad with their in-your-face pop on and banner ads. Literally when I walk into a GameStop there will be a bunch of pop-on ads everywhere and sooooo many “pre-order this” “bundle” posters, banners, pop ons, papers and so on. It’s like a damn ad store. If that isn’t bad enough, the cashiers who do their job try to get in my face and shill. At the counter as well it’s like “would you like to pre-order? Would you like a GPG? Would you like PRP? Would you like to donate to Autism Speaks? Would you like to have our new Elite Pro membership? We buy your cell phones and tablets too, you know! We have this sale going on, we have that...” and so on and so forth. GameStop is literally the shill queen.

[Goldenhawk521]

I know GameStop is a big pile of monkey dung, but just for argument sake, couldn’t they just start getting into the PC hardware market? Maybe start selling things like gaming monitors, TV’s, laptops, and so on and so forth and keep their rewards card stuff? I mean I know GameStop has started slling toys and collectibles, but I would think from a business point they’d sell other things besides just games and toys. Maybe ditch the product that is on the decline and sell things that are on the rise in demand.

[LinkMaster64X]

Gamestop is only for collectors and gamers not willing to spend their whole paycheck on a few games. Don't like the store then don't shop there, for those of us who weren't born with a silver spoon in our mouth we use this store to get games for cheap.

I bought these games last month for a combined total of $50:
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Collection
Tales of Xillia
Tales of Xillia 2
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles
Under Defeat HD
Knight's Contract
Painkiller: Hell and Damnation
Arland Atelier Trilogy
Deadly Premonition: Director's Cut
Dead Space 2: Limited Edition

How? I use their BS policies against them and that Rewards Member Elite card? I got that for free.