With only a few days into the new year, we are already getting our first bit of bad news. GameStop, a business I have zero love for, has announced that it will be closing a number of its stores. I first heard about this through ResetEra, but as you know, I prefer to confirm things like this myself. So, I took a drive to several GameStop locations within a 30-mile radius, and sure enough, I was told that one of them is indeed closing.
For those who frequent a GameStop, you may receive an email from your local store if it is slated for closure. That said, there does not appear to be a firm shutdown date, only that the store will eventually be closed. For many people, this is bad news, especially when it is the only nearby place to pick up physical games. I know this situation all too well. My local GameStop closed two years ago, forcing me to travel to another one that is roughly 25 miles away.
If you are unsure whether your local GameStop is closing, there is a website that has been compiling a list of confirmed closures, which is worth checking out.
Over the past year or so, GameStop’s run of bad luck has felt less like a sudden collapse and more like the slow, grinding reality of a retailer that never fully figured out its place in a modern gaming market. Physical game sales continue to shrink as digital storefronts and subscription services dominate how people buy and play games, and that shift has hit GameStop where it hurts the most. Store closures, declining revenue, and uneven quarterly results have become the norm rather than the exception. Even when the company manages to post a smaller loss or a brief profit, it often feels more like the result of aggressive cost-cutting than any meaningful turnaround.
Personally, I cannot stand walking into a GameStop anymore. It feels like the stores sell more geek culture merchandise such as Funko Pops, t-shirts, and random collectibles than actual video games, which is ironic given the name. I am not even going to get into how many times I have pre-ordered games there, only to have those pre-orders canceled, often without so much as an email or a phone call.
Still, I do feel for those who will be affected by these closures land on their feet. Unfortunately, GameStop has been in a downward spiral for quite some time, and this latest wave of store closures is unlikely to be the last step in what increasingly feels like a race to the bottom.
Source: Resetera
