GameStop to close up to 200 stores

The end of the current console generation puts even more pressure on the company.

[MadLad]

*shrug*

[UltraNova]

The slow death of an era...

[dumahim]

too bad it isn't faster.

[umair_s51]

Wonder if Ebgames in Canada will be affected

[ilikestuff]

Where will I go to get ripped off on my trade-ins now? The sperm bank? Nah, that’s money well worth the work

[darthv72]

It's 200 stores so many of which are going to be those whose numbers are below average. This happens in areas where there are either too many in close proximity or areas with low to non-existent market at all.

Where i live, there are 5 in a five mile radius so if they had to close 2 then it would still be fine. you just hate to see people lose their job but that's on GS for letting locations open up close to other locations.

It isnt as bad as it sounds. Now if they had said closing 2000 stores then.... yeah.

[Thunder_G0d_Bane]

I’m sure none of you bat an eyelid when Blockbusters closed Lool physical media needs to go. The PC market understood that long ago. Console market just needs to catch up.

You started getting some 60fps games an now you’re seeing the light of what PC had been doing long ago.

[akurtz]

There have been console games doing 60fps since the psone. The rest of your comment is dribble.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

"Im sure none of you bat an eyelid when Blockbusters closed" Yea, let's ignore the emergence of redbox in its place.

[sprinterboy]

I have friends and family who went to blockbusters every Friday or Saturday night and never once moaned at the prices yet fast fwd to today and them same family and friends moan at Sony, Google, Ms Netflix, amazon etc at the prices lol.
I'm always like so it's OK driving to blockbusters and spending £3.50 renting a film but your getting ripped off by the company's to renting a new release for £4. I don't get it.
Oh wait they stream for free in shit quality lol.
Edit: off topic I know

[Last_Boss]

Yet P.C gaming is rampant with piracy, that sure is a win in the developed book/s

Besides p.c gaming is mostly about Shooters, MMOs and RTS. If gaming stuck by that tradition we'd still be in PS2 era.

[andy85]

I PlAy In 60+ FpS cOnSolEs NeEd To CaTcH uP! Sorry I'd rather play with lower FPS and enjoy some great single player experiences than think I'm an elitist while I'm playing 120 FPS on some RTS game.

[Seraphim]

I'd imagine it's 200 redundancies. You know the stores that are w/in several miles of one another.

[MGRogue2017]

Almost everyone purchases their games online nowadays in order to save themselves money. The only reason for one to purchase from a GameStop store would be if the person couldn’t possibly wait for the delivery to show up to play a certain game due to excitement, or they needed something, like a controller or headset, on the same day. Other than that, no reason to not purchase gaming-related stuff online.

On a side note, this is what I think of GameStop in general: *farts*

[gamer7804]

yeah three cheers for less competition, that will surely benefit us in the long run....

[anonymousfan]

"In order to save money" I don't know what part of the world you live in but physical is almost always cheaper in the US. You have so many more rapid price drops, used deals etc. Digital is still not priced competitively.

[dumahim]

Buying online probably includes things like Amazon.

[bloodymeatballz]

AHhhh @dumahim I notice you have mentioned the equivalent of Big Boss in this chat. Let's not ever speak the name of Amazon again as they will be the new church of the world.

[Duoma]

*scratches head* why are people acting like game discounts via digital download arent a thing? steam and psn and xbox all have sales regularly as well as demos

[anonymousfan]

@Duoma if you actually paid attention you'd know digital sales on console are shit when you pit them against steam and the other dozens of digital stores on PC. Nevermind the best deals are locked behind a pay wall with services such as PS+. I was able to get Spiderman and RDR2 for roughly 15 dollars a pop barely 4-5 months after release. Ring me up when you can find them both at that price digitally.

[Cobra951]

He didn't say digital. He said purchase online, as in a box with physical goods shows up at your door a day or two later.

[umair_s51]

Yes I buy mostly Amazon and eBay. The prices are usually lower.

[Smok91]

Worst post I’ve seen in a while

[Skuletor]

Funny thing, you can order physical copies of games online too. I can even get games delivered to my house by the morning of launch day

[AdmGenAladeen]

Absolute garbage post! YOU CAN'T SPEAK FOR ALMOST EVERYONE! The last time I heard Sony mention physical vs online sales it was like 65/35% and that was for the GOW game. Keep your trash way of thinking to yourself. If you wanna *rent* digital games for full price then go ahead but don't assume almost everybody is cause that's a lie. Also what gives you the right to tell people there's no reason to buy physical? Keep bending over for them corporate big wigs, someone's gotta do it.

[derektweed1]

I think you need to re-read his comment, he says buying online, not digitally, he even mentions waiting for the delivery to arrive.

[Kiwi66]

I've never brought anything gaming related online as i prefer to go and pick up the things i need in person as well as get a chance to catch up with my friends who own the store

[SixFragz]

Are you feeling better, now that you got that nonsense talk out of your system?

[NotoriousWhiz]

Lmao. The responses to this comment (and the associated votes) demonstrate the level of reading comprehension of the general n4g userbase.

While I don't have the numbers to say "almost everyone" purchases their games online, I can say that I buy all of my games online. Most of them are delivered to my house, but sometimes I'll order store pickup in which case, I still buy them online and then just grab them from the door without having to go find the game and wait in a (usually longer) checkout line.

[S2Killinit]

Very sad.

[UltimateOwnage]

It’s too bad they absorbed EBGames and ruined them. They would have slid right into the spot GameStop is leaving behind, and they were actually a decent gaming store. GameStop is dying not because of digital distribution, but because their business model is terrible. I deliberately avoid shopping there because of it.

[S2Killinit]

I agree with EB games, but disagree with your assessment of why they are failing.

[rainslacker]

Even if eb games wasnt brought, they probably would have gone the same direction gamestop did. All.other major chains did, and even big box stores started doing some of the same things gamestop was.

Gamestop implemented those things that customers came to hate to stay alive. It wasnt about screwing customers, but trying to keep costly retail stores open in the face of amazon, or the rise in digital marketplaces.

Not everything was necessary, like their policies on giving employees hours, but half the stuff people complained about seemed more like they were saying gamestop was forcing them to buy in to all that stuff, or sell their used games there. No one would admit gamestop's game trade in prices were about the same as everywhere else. And I've never seen so many people whine so much about a retail clerk try to upsell them some other product as if they dont just say no at the hundreds of other places that do it also.

In the end, gamestop just had a flawed business structure, with way too much bureaucracy, and with ever decreasing profit margins on new games, they ended up focusing more on where they could make money, which was used games, or now toys.

It's a shame that they have to close stores, but I think everyone knew it needed to happen. I hope they can restructure in a way that keeps the company alive, because here in the us they're the only major gaming chain, and department store game selection usually sucks, and is typically behind glass cabinets. Best buy is OK overall, but it's a lot more of a pain to just run in and buy a game, and they often dont have anywhere near the selection the local game stops have.

[SyntheticForm]

Anyone else old enough to remember when it was called Electronics Boutique?

[Cobra951]

Same here. I stopped shopping there many years ago, before Amazon took over the world. Used games sold for no more than half the price of new until Gamestop came along. Then not only did they price used games at just a little under new, but then they tried hard to push them on me, making the shopping experience a chore. I even told them at the time I'd buy the used stuff at half the retail price of new. That never flew. If anything, it was easier to get a promo discount on a new game than to ever see used at a reasonable price. Completely turned me off, and there were plenty of other local stores selling games and gear.

[redhawkcrisis]

The last time I was in the store. They showed off so many up sells. It was remarkable. I'm like can I just pay for the game!! haha

[JEECE]

This. And their upsells are so painfully written for people who have no understanding of video games (presumably parents buying gifts are the target of these), I.e. "Do you want to go ahead and make sure you have everything by paying for the DLC" "Do you want to make sure you get the full experience by paying for a strategy guide?"

It's amazing to me how, in the age of Amazon and the death of brick and mortar, the owners/decision-makers for physical stores haven't realized that forced upsells are the worst possible thing they can do. I mean, your customers are already leaving on their own; why on Earth do you want to push them away faster?

[dumahim]

Heh, they pushed me out a long time ago. I was in for a midnight release for Final Fantasy XII and I already had the PS3, Wii, a couple games and extra controllers for both pre-ordered for over $1000 and the cashier was just flat out bullying me to pre-order more games. I had to tell him no 4 times before he let me have my game. Next day I wound up cancelling everything but the two consoles.

[rainslacker]

The "forced" upsell is what raises the average ticket of a sale. It isnt the worst thing to do, even if it's a pointless upsell. Upsells for places like gamestop arent typically about a necessary added sale, because none of it's really necessary, but because of what they are, it's not like there are really that many complimentary products. Like say if I were buying a faucet, a good upsell would be the supply lines.

If you're pushed away by the upsell, then I suppose you dont shop many retail outlets, or ever go out to eat. They are common place, and even the beloved amazon throws that at you during checkout...and sometimes it's not even relevant to what you're buying.

I question people that complain about this. Are you incapable of saying no? Is it really any skin off your back if the associate asks if you want something extra? Would you rather they just be quiet, ring you up, thank you, and be on your way? Having worked in retail I can say that many more people would be upset about that kind of service.

Consider that the average mark up for a new game is 20-25%. That's a pathetic amount for a retail store the size of gamestop, whi typically open their stores in high rent locations. I sell games as a small business, and I won't even bother with new games, because the margins are pathetic.

[JEECE]

@rainslacker

I understand the concept of an upsell where it makes sense (hence the distinction of a "forced" upsell). If I order a burger, fries are a complementary item-it is well understood that people frequently eat side items with the main course of a meal, and fries are a quintessential side item for a burger. In other stores, an upsell can put me on notice of a legitimately useful product.

This is a poor analogy to GS though, because as you acknowledge, the products they try to upsell you are not complementary in the same way; i.e. GS knows perfectly that the vast majority of people aren't going to use a physical strategy guide for a game these days, as those who use strategy guides will find them online without having to pay (hence the suggestion that these are targeted at parents who won't know better and may think there is a legitimate reason to buy them).

It is also a poor analogy, because if I politely decline fries (as you suggest I do with GS upsells), the cashier does not start debating me on why I will need fries or launch into a laundry list of upsells for unrelated items, such as preording a burger for next week-he or she calmly accepts my decision and moves on with the transaction. At GS, it's either they start trying to explain why you need the strategy guide, or they start into the next upsell. Not to mention if other people are in the store, your wait time is increased by having to listen to this play out over and over again.

You also seem to suggest I can't stand people in the service industry, which is far from true- I assume many of them hate having to do upsells as much as I did in the various service industry jobs I've worked (concessions at a movie theater probably being the most egregious example, there because people already act like you are ripping them off, and you know you are just going to annoy them even more by upselling). Possibly knowing that you are repeatedly harassing other people is worse than being the one harassed. And yes, sales associates can not do a required upsell, but not if a manager is around or their company uses mystery shoppers to evaluate their behavior.

But, you seem pretty intend on defending GS-possibly you have great memories of the Fallout 3 midnight launch or something there-so I'll just use the success of the company as an indicator of who is correct on this point.

[rainslacker]

The upsell is relevant enough that it applies to the purchase, but it's not a product I'd really consider a good product. The game insurance mostly. The PUR membership is just a thing they'll do if you aren't a member. The pre-order upsells are relevant if you pre-order.

it's not like they're trying to sell you an Xbox controller if you buy a PS4 game. I never said they were pointless, you did. I said that the things they upsell aren't necessary to have to use the product. If it were, "Would you like a game with that new system you were buying", that would be a pretty on point upsell. If someone were buying a extra controller, and they don't come with a USB cable, it makes sense to upsell those. Just because you don't want what they are upselling, doesn't mean you need to be all pissy about it, and I question if it's a regular thing that you would go in there and be pressured so heavily that you need to make such a strong statement about how it's a problem there.

Maybe it's just your experience with them, but it's never been my experience with them. I've had some that pressured more than others, but never to the point that I would go around complaining about it. I just politely decline. The only time I've ever been upset with GS is with one employee who at the start of last gen called me stupid because I didn't want an Xbox 360. I laid into him in front of a lot of customers during the holiday season, wasn't pleasant about it, and didn't shop there for years. But that was one employee. Since going back, I've almost always had good experiences, even with the obligatory upsells.

[dumahim]

@rainslacker

If they'd just accept a "no thanks" and move on, I'd be ok with it, but FFS they want to keep pushing and not accepting multiple "No thanks" and tell me "you NEED to pre-order more games" after I've already got over $1000 worth of stuff pre-ordered is just simply not acceptable sales behavior if you want to keep customers.

It'd be another thing if it was an isolated incident, but every single fucking time I've gone in to a Gamestop in the last 114 years or so has been unpleasant. From the dipshit who asked me if I wanted to pre-order the MGS The Essential Collection for PS or Xbox despite it being PS exclusive and then laugh when I said PS and starts talking about how dumb PS3 owners are and tried telling me it wouldn't work in my PS3 despite me having the original fat.

Or the time the guy behind the counter refused to give me the pre-order bonus of a code to access the MGS Online Beta that was going to start in a week because he took it upon himself to decide no one should get the code until the game is released and the game is picked up. I had to argue with him that the Beta started in a week and would be over long before the game was released making the pre-order beta access code completely pointless. After a couple minutes of this, someone else chimed in that I thought was just another customer standing there told the guy behind the counter that he had been giving them out through the day. Guy behind the counter grumpily relented and said to him "I don't agree with it, but I'll talk about that later" and he finally gave me the damn code.

Or the handful of other times I thought I'd give them another chance, but wind up dealing with some power tripping minimum wage stooge who has the customer service skills of a wet dog turd left under a lamp on the counter with a fan pointing the fumes in the customer's direction.

[Cobra951]

It gets even worse for customers if they learn why the upsells are so aggressive. GS employees (and employees at some other stores, to be fair) are required to have a certain number of them, including things like extended warranties. They have a quota, and if they fail to meet it too many times, out the door they go. If customers didn't already feel enough pressure at the checkout, now they have to deal with guilt about someone's job security too.

My brother got out of retail sales specifically because of this. Be a snake to customers, or lose his job. Lose-lose.

[OldGuyStillGaming]

I do want to thank GameStop for my God of War Ps4Pro special edition console.
That’s all I really have nice to say about them

[anonymousfan]

Me too actually forgot about that but I got a sweet deal on that same edition at gamestop back then :)

[yellowgerbil]

They really dropped the ball so bad. They should of become what limited run games is. When things started going digital they should of ponied up the cash to press pre order exclusive physical games. That would of allowed them to stay relevant to core gamers. Instead they pushed stupid toys even though 99% of gamers have zero interest in popcaps etc.
Another thing they could of done is devote 15% of their floorspace to arcades and kept that industry alive and given people a reason to frequent them. They wouldn't need a bunch of games, 2 cabinets with popular retro games and maybe 1 pinball machine per store would help them stand out.
Basically there were so many areas they could of offered something amazon couldn't but instead they stuck their fingers in their ears and went NAH NAH NAH for the past 10 years while their stores died around them.

[PlayableGamez-]

I hope my Gamestop locations dont get hit.

[Eidolon]

Same I still got store credit I need to use

[RedDevils]

better use it while you still can.

[PlayableGamez-]

Despite what people think about GameStops business practices, my locations have always been good to me. Shame.

[AnubisG]

Well that sucks. Lot of jobs will be lost. Digital is killing brick & mortar video game stores.

[NeoGamer232]

Things change over time. Whether it is coal mines, nuclear plants, department stores, general retail, manufacturing, etc. Technology and environmental issues are changing almost everything.

It is not bad that there is a change. It does suck for everyone employed by them and that definitely needs to be addressed. The world has to get better at change management when so many are affected. It is not employee's fault their companies were stupid, and the change still needs to happen, but the companies need to take more accountability and help people transition to where labor is needed better.

Gamestop had a chance to be part of the solution, and by not giving studios/publishers a piece of the used game market, they essentially put a bulls eye on their head, back, and heart. Studios/Publishers have found a way around Gamestop and this is now a done deal. Instead of giving the profits to shareholders they should have been investing in ways to make their long term business model viable and if they knew that the model was not viable they should've had money saved to help transition people to other industries and markets.

[rainslacker]

Publishers consistently lowered gamestop's profit margin on new games for 20 odd years, even before they became the used game store, and yet people never seem to lament that the profit margins on such things arent high enough for a brick and mortar store to operate.

Even if game prices go up, chances are, retail will only make an extra dollar or so on the sale of the game, thus reducing their profit margin even lower, and significantly reducing their buying power.

In the end, most publishers will be fine with that, because they want to go all digital anyways, because they somehow think they should get a cut of a used game sale, even though that isnt common practice anywhere...even in the software industry at large.

[UltimateOwnage]

I really don’t see digital sales being the root of this. It’s GameStop’s model driving customers away that’s done this more than anything.

[JEECE]

I mean I know many people on here dislike digital, but it undeniably has taken over a much larger share of game sales than it had even a few years ago. (See https://www.statista.com/st... That trend is clearly hurting a company reliant on the physical games market like GameStop. I agree that their policies don't help; if you are sticking with physical, there are better options.

[AnubisG]

I'm not saying that digital is the only reason why gamestop is failing but it is a huge part of it. Personally, I go to Best Buy as I still have my gamers club for a few months but after that is up, I don't know where I will go. I think I will not be buying games day one anymore as within 2-3 weeks games tend to be $10 or more cheaper. In any case, if GameStop would change their strategy now, it wouldn't help them at all. Maybe for a while but digital eventually will completely kill GameStop just as it did music stores and movie stores. Yes, you see some music and movie stores still but they are struggling.

[Cobra951]

I guess it's natural to think of digital and online as the same thing, but there's more to it. People that prefer physical copies of games can buy them online too, get them delivered. That's what's killing the likes of Gamestop, especially now that you can get next-day delivery easily, and sometimes even same-day.

[criticalkare]

Wow and my cousin were about to apply to gamestop for jobs.... now he doesnt have any reason to apply now...

[Psychotica]

That's too bad. There is one just a short distance from my home and I like to go over and browse. Sometimes I find a used game that I had forgotten all about. I also like being able to trade in my console games for Steam vouchers.

[anonymousfan]

What you can trade in console games for Steam vouchers?! That sounds pretty sweet??

[Psychotica]

Yes, when short on cash and I see a Steam game I want I grab some console games I no longer play and trade them for a Steam voucher. Been doing it for years.

[Donnie81]

Never good if people loose their job

[TheEnigma313]

Much better when we had funcoland, babbage's, and Electronics Etc and not just one gaming store.

[prankster101]

So if Gamestop is closing down, does that mean the return of the mum n pop store?

[TheEnigma313]

amazon and walmart

[danny818]

Definitely sucks. Ive been buying everything at gamestop lately. Until my nearest gamestop closes. Gonna miss walking into a dedicated game store forsure...

[brich233]

"GameStop (GME) currently operates more than 6,600 stores globally, including 4,400 in the United States."

[UltimateOwnage]

I. E. Closing 200 is a pretty small portion of them at this point.

[SprigganN4G]

Just die already

[addictedtochaos]

This isn’t anything new. They close underperforming stores all the time.

[AnotherGamer]

Hope mine nearby doesn't get affected.

[bloodymeatballz]

Good, I worked for the devil and thats exactly what they are. May they rest easy in hell taking advantage of consumers. GAMESTOP IS A GARBAGE DUMP, unless you have a broken controller, buy a used one and return the broken one

[hiawa23]

Really not surprised. Digital for the win..

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

A lot of people are about to lose their jobs and you people are happy about that just because the higher ups have screwed up policies? It’s not the employees fault that GameStop as a company sucks. It’s never good when people who don’t deserve it loses their job. Grow up people...

[JEECE]

By your logic, people can never be happy about a primarily good event if it had any negative side effects. For instance, if a chemical plant is polluting the water in your area and getting people sick, you couldn't be happy about it getting shut down, because there were probably some totally innocent employees of the plant who lose jobs as a result. The thing is, that is a ridiculous standard; clearly you can be happy about a good event but lament any negative side effects.

Additionally, potentially unlike in my chemical plant example where workers may have been there for twenty years and have no concept of how to do anything else, lower level GameStop employees will be able to find other jobs. If you've worked retail/service industry, you know that jobs are not necessarily permanent and that moving is part of the game. Restaurants, retail, grocery stores, movie theaters, etc have high turnover for various reasons, and good GameStop employees could get jobs at those types of places. (Source:work experience in several of these types of jobs).

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Just stop...

[JEECE]

You: illogical emotional appeal that obviously ignores what people are happy about and attributes malice where it clearly does not exist.
Me: thought out, rational response putting the situation in perspective.
You: "Just stop..."

Seems about right.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

You’re not worth a real response. So again just stop...

[rainslacker]

You're rational responses seem to involve a lot of hyperbole, exaggeration, and anecdotal examples of questionable veracity, while being completely unreasonable about what to expect from a retail outlet, and acting like your life or day is somehow greatly affected because someone wants to do an upsell on you. I fear for the kids at your local taco bell when they ask you if you want any of those cinnamon twists with your burrito combo. I suppose that's annoying too.

[dumahim]

They'll find new jobs and probably better and more fulfilling ones at that.

[JEECE]

Seriously. These are not specifically-trained factory workers who have been in the same job for twenty-five years and have few options or transferable skills when "the local plant" closes down. Good service industry employees can find new jobs.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Sad but inevitable given their main source of revenue continues to be a dying used game sales market. I still think back to the system MS talked about during the debacle of the X1 launch for a used game sale system that gave the publishers/devs a cut of the used game sales and a system for managing the game licenses for stores like Gamestop. Gamestop was on record saying they didn't support it... if only they knew then what they know now? That failed attempt to give a cut to devs/pubs on used game sales could have been a difference maker for Gamestop but instead it really just forced the issue of a digital store front to be the main push for all platforms.

[TheHateTheyGive]

GOOD!

[GoldeneyeOO7]

Good, fuck 'em!

[dotwithshoes]

This is nothing new in the retail world. Every company closes underperforming stores. Remember when Pizza Hut said they were possibly going to close almost 500 stores? Pizza Hut is the second largest pizza chain in the country.

[3-4-5]

This sucks. was my go to store since the 90's and really the only dedicated games store where you could get games at a discount price that were 1-10 years old.

I can't walk into a Best Buy or Target and get most games from a few years back in case I wasn't able to play upon release.....Stuff like that will be missed.

I really hope they can save a few stores and keep them open for good.

You guys want all digital, but wait until you can't use what you paid for....

Gamestop also doesn't rip people off because YOU have to AGREE to it. They don't force you to sell your game for $12....You chose to.

* Yea some prices were shady....especially the used games for $70, but it was a great option for used older games.

[Blu3_Berry]

Meh, I haven't purchased anything from Gamestop since 2011 so I honestly couldn't care less. I'm surprised they're still around kicking tbh. It does suck for employees will may be laid off though. I hope they do end up finding another job.

[WickedLester]

Surprised it took this long.

[ccgr]

The one closest to me is half filled with Anime stuff

[LordJamar]

Really is sad to see GameStop go lots of good memories even got to work their for about a year great people there and I loved helping and chatting about video games with the customers.

I would always go into the mall but always make sure I check out GameStop on the way out just to see what’s going on it was like a oasis fun times

people only Remember the bad and not the good about GameStop unfortunately gamers praiseing the death of brick and mortar store for games is a little disgusting oh well all digital future here we come

[sdplisken]

Good riddance

[AK91]

They honestly have no one to blame but themselves.

[FightFans]

Good riddance. They rip people off anyway.

[Npugz7]

It’s just like blockbuster closing. Everything is now digital and mail

[Stevonidas]

Bye, Felicia.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Some guy leaked last week this would happen. He also said they would convert what they have left into some sort of "Gaming room"

[Knightofelemia]

I remember at Gamestop one of the workers made it sound like I was an idiot for buying a PS3 and buying games for it. It was at to the point I wanted to jump behind the counter and jam a few ripped off games down his throat. Told the manager nothing happened never been back since then.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Sad but I'm thankful for Ebay and Amazon for the physical game domination.

[royyuan]

ha ha , i dont think so

[howiewowwee]

terrible trade in policy.

[Ristul]

Say what you will about gamestop, but thats a lot of people losing their jobs.

[Cyb3r]

Not surprising they sell games far more expensive compared to everywhere else especially new releases,they dont give good credit or cash on trade-ins, and they try to sell items you are not interested in and game protection return for an extra fee.