Is Gamestop on borrowed time?

[Gardner McKay]

GameStop ‘Burns to the Ground’ and Analysts Fear No Rebound

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[JaegerDice]

I think their current model is dead and gone.

IMO, if they were smart, they would downsize and streamline their entire business to provide only collector's and special editions of games, as well as stocking stuff like art books, figurines, etc, from third party producers.

Other than the most fanatical collector's almost everybody else is moving to digital. So cater to the people who still need bricks and mortar stores.

Even better if they can cut deals with publishers for exclusive features in their physical special editions.

 

[Beau Knows]

Physical game stores can still exist in the future, but I think they'll be far less in number and mostly for hobbyists. I can't imagine many players on PC are still buying physical games, maybe the odd collectors edition I guess. Consoles are getting better at providing more customizable storage options like installing your own SSD and HDD so that market will continue to shrink.

I don't see GameStop itself being one of these hobbyist stores though. I expect that they would be mom-and-pop type shops like you see for board games. Those usually survive by having a knowledgeable staff with a love for the hobby as well as hosting events to try to bring people into the hobby and the store. It's a tough type of business to succeed in, and GameStop doesn't have that kind of culture to get by in.

In fact you'd think Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo would be incredibly motivated to make it easy for users to upgrade their storage solutions. Then they have users purchasing their games through their online stores cutting out the middlemen.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I hope the employees don't get completely shafted in order to make sure the rich execs don't have to face any hardships for running the damn thing into the ground....

Who am I kidding? They'll give themselves big severance packages

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Physical game stores can still exist in the future, but I think they'll be far less in number and mostly for hobbyists. I can't imagine many players on PC are still buying physical games, maybe the odd collectors edition I guess. Consoles are getting better at providing more customizable storage options like installing your own SSD and HDD so that market will continue to shrink.

In fact you'd think Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo would be incredibly motivated to make it easy for users to upgrade their storage solutions. Then they have users purchasing their games through their online stores cutting out the middlemen.

On top of cutting out the middle man, they know there won't be any more used game sales. That should allow for deeper discounts, similar to how you can often find PC games so cheap so often, but we'll see since consoles are a closed system and don't have to worry about competition at that point.

 

[Beau Knows]

On top of cutting out the middle man, they know there won't be any more used game sales. That should allow for deeper discounts, similar to how you can often find PC games so cheap so often, but we'll see since consoles are a closed system and don't have to worry about competition at that point.

Yeah, I expect that the customers on these systems won't see much in the way of saving from this. The publishers won't have to pay for shipping, retailers cuts, production of the media and even designing art for the box. But with no competition and an already established price that they know customers will pay for games the savings will likely be pure profit.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I'm going to miss EB Games, if so.

The local EB is always fun to visit....and the trade ins! Not quite as useful when I don't currently own any consoles, but I likely will again in the future.


Good times.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Maybe if all the stores weren't complete dumps i would step back in. Dirty and completely unorganized.

 

[MayDay]

I'm going to miss EB Games, if so.

The local EB is always fun to visit....and the trade ins! Not quite as useful when I don't currently own any consoles, but I likely will again in the future.


Good times.

Huh. I thought EB Games went out of business decades ago. I remember going to one at the mall in the late 90s, but haven't seen one in 20 years.

 

[RandV]

Huh. I thought EB Games went out of business decades ago. I remember going to one at the mall in the late 90s, but haven't seen one in 20 years.

Not sure about elsewhere but in Canada at least we have EB Games which is owned by Gamestop.

I was a fan 15 years ago, browsing through the used section every other week or two looking for $20-30 gems, but they kind of stopped being cool to me when they transitioned to a business model that promoted quick turn around on brand new games, where the used game was only like $5 cheaper. They gave you a good price when you traded these games, but it effectively turned it into an expensive rental service. Buy the latest game game for $55, beat it, trade it in for $35 (or whatever the prices were), rinse and repeat. Like I said, a glorified rental service.

Also completely cutting out the PC games shelving space didn't help either.

 

[PK Cronin]

I've only ever wanted to go to a game store when looking for a very specific item from the past. The last time I actually bought anything from Gamestop was probably when StarCraft II was first released in 2010. Occasionally I find myself wanting an old game or component to an older system, but Gamestop never seems to carry what I'm looking for. If people can download games, there's just not much of a need anymore. They're a quick stop if a controller breaks or something, but the prices they charge are absurd compared to what you can find elsewhere.

 

[chicagoskycam]

I really don't know how they lasted this long once game downloads on consoles became the norm. I was a regular customer and have gone there maybe once since the original Xone came out. The last system I preordered from Amazon. The largest percent of profit came from trading in games and systems - people are not buying physical copies of games anymore.

They offer some pre-order bonuses but so does other retailers. Their staff is very knowledgable but I'd rather have the game downloaded and ready to go at midnight instead of lining up at the gong show. You could get some good discounted games but Xbox is doing the same thing already and often at better prices.

Also, not a lot of good games coming out. People have been in Fortnite mode and similar games which are free - no reason to go to Gamestop. Nextgen consoles may go to subscription route and that would even kill them more.

GameStop’s future is grim as its stock price crumbles

 

[Beantown Beatdown]

Maybe if all the stores weren't complete dumps i would step back in. Dirty and completely unorganized.

This is pretty much my experience with them now. When I was younger I loved nothing more than visiting the local EB games, but now like you said, they all seem so unorganized and packed wall to wall with stuff I don't care about.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Huh. I thought EB Games went out of business decades ago. I remember going to one at the mall in the late 90s, but haven't seen one in 20 years.

A brand name Gamestop decided to keep in Canada.

 

[542365]

Surprised they’ve lasted this long. I was forced into going digital only after my PS4’s disk drive crapped out, and it’s so much more convenient. Play games at midnight, don’t have to get up to change games, or worry about games getting damaged. The only thing I miss about physical copies is sharing/trading games with friends. I haven’t been in a GameStop in a long tine. Last time I can remember being at one was for the midnight release of the original Black Ops. They’ve gone the way of Blockbuster.

 

[Supermassive]

I’m a convert to downloads. Resell value for discs is crap, future backwards compatibility for digital looks promising, and it’s heavenly to park my ass for hours and switch between games on the fly.

Except Nintendo. I’ll always collect Nintendo physical games.

 

[Common Sense]

They've been living on bonus time for years. I'm a physical-only console gamer and if I want to buy a new game these days I'm just going to either order from Amazon and have it delivered or pick it up from Best Buy instead of going to Funko Pop land and dealing with the guy behind the counter trying to sell me a bunch of shit I don't want.

 

[GreytWun]

Digital for me easily. I pay half the price for a new game and share with my buddies.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Maybe if all the stores weren't complete dumps i would step back in. Dirty and completely unorganized.

So true.

Not to mention all these EB/GameStop stores are so cramped and small. This is amplified x1000000 when you’re in there when it’s busy and you gotta fight through a sea of people whom are just standing around and/or not buying anything. Meanwhile you’re trying to get to the checkout line so you can get the f*** out of that overcrowded closet of a store.

 

[Tuggy]

Sorry to those stores but I'm all digital now.

It's cheaper for me (no tax in PS Store in Canada) and great sales.

The only expense was an external HD.

 

[MayDay]

I'm holding onto physical media as long as I can, because I prefer actually owning the things that I buy.

If you can't re-sell something, you don't really own it.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I'm holding onto physical media as long as I can, because I prefer actually owning the things that I buy.

If you can't re-sell something, you don't really own it.

And, while I believe it isn't a real issue yet, you always run the risk of completely losing access to games you bought if they get de-listed or if the servers for a online game are taken down.

All digital is very convenient but there is a price to pay. So far it had mostly been acceptable but the more publishers realize how much they can get away with, the more they will try to.

 

[PK Cronin]

And, while I believe it isn't a real issue yet, you always run the risk of completely losing access to games you bought if they get de-listed or if the servers for a online game are taken down.

All digital is very convenient but there is a price to pay. So far it had mostly been acceptable but the more publishers realize how much they can get away with, the more they will try to.

The flip side to the physical side of purchases, at least for PC, is that older games aren't always compatible when you have the disc. I have games from the mid 90's on disc still and they don't function properly anymore with the new operating systems. I had to re-purchase a bunch through GOG in order to play them again.

 

[chicagoskycam]

And, while I believe it isn't a real issue yet, you always run the risk of completely losing access to games you bought if they get de-listed or if the servers for a online game are taken down.

All digital is very convenient but there is a price to pay. So far it had mostly been acceptable but the more publishers realize how much they can get away with, the more they will try to.

Has this yet to happen with any digital games anyone owns on consoles yet? Could be an issue but it's unusual for me to play a game from many years ago.

I mean the disc for an Xbox is more of an authorization thing if I'm correct. It's still installing the game and updating via servers or it won't work anyways.

 

[Papa Francouz]

It's about time. Best Buy earned my money with their Gamer's Club program, so I've been a BB loyalist for years and haven't looked back. I've been against game stores like GameStop ever since I worked there back in high school. The writing has been on the wall for years that they were going to fail, and they never did anything past bringing in annoying merch to try and combat the changing times. I won't miss them, that's for damn sure.