After suffering a rough fourth quarter in 2016, GameStop will be closing at least 100 stores soon, according to a recent financial report. Hardware sales declined by 29.1%, even though the PlayStation 4 Slim, PlayStation 4 Pro, and PlayStation VR all launched within that period. Software sales were down by 19.3% as well. The retailler also blamed "weak" sales of big budget AAA games for the harsh decline, mentioning that the latest Call of Duty title had disappointingly sold 50% less than 2015's Black Ops 3. This announcement comes after Microsoft revealed Xbox Game Pass, a digital subscription that allows players to have access to a wide catalog of games for a monthly fee, which further hurt the brick-and-mortal GameStop, causing stock prices to drop by 7%. This leads to a total stock decline of 31% for the company, in the past year alone.

Total global sales decreased 13.6% to $3.05 billion, while consolidated comparable store sales declined 16.3% (-20.8% in the U.S. and -4.6% internationally). As stated in the company’s holiday sales release in January, the fourth quarter was significantly impacted by weak sales of certain AAA titles and aggressive console promotions by other retailers on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday. As a result, new hardware sales declined 29.1% and new software sales declined by 19.3%. Pre-owned sales outperformed new video games, declining 6.7% compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.

Source

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

I CRI EVRY TEIM
Seriously, 2016 was a terrible year for big name stores. First Hastings, now this?!?
If a store near me closes, I'm not going to be able to purchase games for a WHILE.

Adding more to the wound of local stores is if they have mediocre to crap customer service, that in itself just pushes local shops to close down and being online-only or in limited locations. I don't know, but if Amazon was a local retail store their customer service wouldn't be any better than the rest, but because they're online they have time and patience to talk with their clients.

Haven't had a bad CS with Amazon, well, one at least -- I remember having an Amazon rep being passive-aggressive with me. I should've made a formal complain to Amazon about her but I just couldn't be bothered.

 

[Foxi4]

I have such bad experiences at GameStop. Every single time I go they ALWAYS pester me into getting a used game when I can get it new for a mere 5 FUCKING DOLLARS. This is no shock to me.

Pre-owned titles have better margins for the store and are cheaper for the customer, it's a win-win, of course they're asking you to pick those up instead, they're better value for money.

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

Pre-owned titles have better margins for the store and are cheaper for the customer, it's a win-win, of course they're asking you to pick those up instead, they're better value for money.

Hasn't GameStop stopped from calling customers as customers and to "Clients" or "Guests"? Then I suppose that "Pre-owned" might get a new alt title too.

"Pre-Played"
"Pre-Inspected"
"Pre-Checked"
"Pre-Gamed"
"Pre-Touched"
"Pre-Refurbished"
"Pre-Opened"
"GameStopped"

Enough of "pre" B.S. It's used. Used. Even when a gaming company sells a "New" game it's not really new, it's unsealed so it's used.

 

[PrincessLillie]

I suppose that "Pre-owned" might get a new alt title too.
"GameStopped"

I'm dead!

 

[Foxi4]

Hasn't GameStop stopped from calling customers as customers and to "Clients" or "Guests"? Then I suppose that "Pre-owned" might get a new alt title too.

"Pre-Played"
"Pre-Inspected"
"Pre-Checked"
"Pre-Gamed"
"Pre-Touched"
"Pre-Refurbished"
"Pre-Opened"
"GameStopped"

Enough of "pre" B.S. It's used. Used. Even when a gaming company sells a "New" game it's not really new, it's unsealed so it's used.

Games are unsealed to produce control copies. It's a complicated system that I know from the kitchen side of things. Also, goods are not "used" or "pre-owned" unless someone "used" or "owned" them before, this is not a difficult concept to grasp. Besides, the whole concept of "buying a game" is a misnomer - you don't own any games. What you're buying is a storage medium and a software license, whether the medium is mint or not is irrelevant into the world of software.

 

[MasterJ360]

trade in's are

I hope the store near me doesn't close... It's not the company itself that I enjoy visiting my local GameStop, it's the employees. They are very nice and have actually gone out their way to help me get the product I'm looking for.

Same here for me I live in a very small city even tho Walmart,Target, and Best Buy are just a few blocks from eachother, Gamestop has the best variety of games and constantly stays up to date.

@Foxi4 Thanx now my brain hurts from reading that, I think I'll lie down now

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

Games are unsealed to produce control copies. It's a complicated system that I know from the kitchen side of things. Also, goods are not "used" or "pre-owned" unless someone "used" or "owned" them before, this is not a difficult concept to grasp. Besides, the whole concept of "buying a game" is a misnomer - you don't own any games. What you're buying is a storage medium and a software license, whether the medium is mint or not is irrelevant into the world of software.

Doesn't matter. If I'm buying a game new or used, it's one or the other. I refuse to pay full price for a used copy and if that happens it goes back or if in store, I just don't buy it. I in fact refuse to buy used 3DS games because every cover I've seen is always dirty on the white 3DS logo part and with patience, it eventually comes up on the web for a good price.

 

[SodaWithYoda]

At the same time that the web is maturing and becoming more accessible, GameStop is losing relevancy.

 

[PrincessLillie]

Doesn't matter. If I'm buying a game new or used, it's one or the other. I refuse to pay full price for a used copy and if that happens it goes back or if in store, I just don't buy it. I in fact refuse to buy used 3DS games because every cover I've seen is always dirty on the white 3DS logo part and with patience, it eventually comes up on the web for a good price.

That's never happened with me. My boxes were always crystal-clear. And I, for one, haven't seen a GameStop pre-owned go for full price, and I like to buy the pre-owned games because they fit budget-prices.

At the same time that the web is maturing and becoming more accessible, GameStop is losing relevancy.

Losing relevancy? Please clarify.

 

[Foxi4]

Doesn't matter. If I'm buying a game new or used, it's one or the other. I refuse to pay full price for a used copy and if that happens it goes back or if in store, I just don't buy it. I in fact refuse to buy used 3DS games because every cover I've seen is always dirty on the white 3DS logo part and with patience, it eventually comes up on the web for a good price.

Pre-owned games are almost always cheaper, they rarely come up as the same price on the till, most often when a new copy happens to be on offer while the pre-owned one is not. Unless you mean unsealed copies, in which case they're not pre-owned and you're just being pedantic.

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

Pre-owned games are almost always cheaper, they rarely come up as the same price on the till, most often when a new copy happens to be on offer while the pre-owned one is not. Unless you mean unsealed copies, in which case they're not pre-owned and you're just being pedantic.

Unsealed isn't the same as sealed. The discs can have minor marks on it and whomever opened it could have removed a DLC card from it. If you're okay buying "New" than New then that's up to you.

 

[Foxi4]

Unsealed isn't the same as sealed. The discs can have minor marks on it and whomever opened it could have removed a DLC card from it. If you're okay buying "New" than New then that's up to you.

If it's missing content then you return it. It's still a new copy. In my opinion copies should be sealed too, but there is a legitimate reason, several reasons in fact, why a few are unsealed and stored separately. By the way, no reasonable employee would risk their job over a DLC code, that's ridiculous.

 

[PrincessLillie]

As far as I know, GameStop is the only store that provides DOWNLOAD CODES in retail stores.

 

[Saiyan Lusitano]

If it's missing content then you return it. It's still a new copy. In my opinion copies should be sealed too, but there is a legitimate reason, several reasons in fact, why a few are unsealed and stored separately. By the way, no reasonable employee would risk their job over a DLC code, that's ridiculous.

Grainger Games, GAME and 365 Games are known for this practice and I personally avoid all three if I intend on buying sealed games 'cause to buy unsealed, there's eBay then. When buying directly from Amazon I know what I'm getting, the same can't be said for those three.

 

[Foxi4]

Grainger Games, GAME and 365 Games are known for this practice and I personally avoid all three if I intend on buying sealed games 'cause to buy unsealed, there's eBay then. When buying directly from Amazon I know what I'm getting, the same can't be said for those three.

And I explained to you why they do it. Amazon ships quantities so huge that they probably don't even care for controls, hence the higher frequency of sealed copies, but I wouldn't be surprised if one in a million customers got a resealed one. With eBay you have no idea whether an unsealed copy is mint or not, in a chain store you do - you're just missing a plastic wrapper that's worth nothing. Anywho, if you're adamant on getting an originally sealed copy, just mention it at the till.

 

[skydancer93]

Good. Fuck them

 

[farmin]

Pre-owned games are almost always cheaper, they rarely come up as the same price on the till, most often when a new copy happens to be on offer while the pre-owned one is not.

At least here in the land of overpriced games this is sadly not true with "new" used titles. Horizon: ZD is currently around $80 new and $75-78 used, while it's definitely cheaper, you may as well spend the extra 5 bucks for a guaranteed mint condition copy.

 

[TehCupcakes]

I kind of lost a lot interest in GameStop when they stopped selling "retro" games. The systems I own are usually at least a generation behind current, and even the games that I can get at GameStop are significantly more expensive there than online or at another used game store. GameStop had an incredible growth spurt some years ago and it let that get to its head. I just want more stores where I can find everything from Atari-current gen, but I guess that selection is too broad to cram into a single store. Their growth may have been in large part because they rely heavily on keeping up with modern games, but then so is their drop in profits. That's what happens when you put your eggs all in one basket.

 

[TeamScriptKiddies]

While I'm not the biggest fan of Gamestop, I'm still saddened by this as I've always been a sucker for physical copies. This is a sign of the "end times" for physical copies lol. I mean we all knew this was coming, its a shame though....

 

[Yinxx]

Blockbuster all over again....

Yes, Indeed...