The decline of GameStop

[hanselthecaretaker]

Yikes. [https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/19/21132128/gamestop-employees-report-extreme-pressure-desperate-bosses]

Only a matter of time before they go the way of Blockbuster. I?ve grown to appreciate the convenience of buying digital, but the impending loss of physical ownership of software leaves a sour mark on the industry as a whole. Charging the same $60 for digital is kinda sad, but it?s a way to offset ever-increasing development costs. When I think of spending $80 on Turok 2 back in the mid 90?s for example it doesn?t seem like that big of a travesty.

Also it?s not unreasonable to think even a digital game can have a resale market. It?s still considered a good, where transfer of ?ownership? would remain the same regardless if it?s a physical copy or not. It essentially seems to be a strong arm tactic of the digital storefronts to disregard the possibility. Just offer enough sales and hopefully no one will really care.

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

My local Gamestop closed down about a month ago, but there are still a couple open a short distance from me.

I also wouldn't look at this as indicating an "impending loss" of physical ownership. I remember an article announcing the closing of a bunch of Gamestop stores (which included my local one, as I said), but what stood out for me was what Gamestop blamed the underperformance of their sales on.

Apparently, they said they performed below expectations because no one was buying games/consoles last year...because they were hanging onto their money for the upcoming release of the PS5/Xbox Series X. Even if that were true for console sales, even believing that gamers would stop buying games an entire year+ in advance of a console release and wait for that instead shows a lack of understanding about gamers.

 

[BrawlMan]

Yikes. [https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/19/21132128/gamestop-employees-report-extreme-pressure-desperate-bosses]

Only a matter of time before they go the way of Blockbuster. I?ve grown to appreciate the convenience of buying digital, but the impending loss of physical ownership of software leaves a sour mark on the industry as a whole. Charging the same $60 for digital is kinda sad, but it?s a way to offset ever-increasing development costs. When I think of spending $80 on Turok 2 back in the mid 90?s for example it doesn?t seem like that big of a travesty.

Also it?s not unreasonable to think even a digital game can have a resale market. It?s still considered a good, where transfer of ?ownership? would remain the same regardless if it?s a physical copy or not. It essentially seems to be a strong arm tactic of the digital storefronts to disregard the possibility. Just offer enough sales and hopefully no one will really care.

Do you know how many doom and gloom articles are made when some GameStops close down? This is nothing new, and atricles like that have been going one since 2008. They usually bounce back. There were some that closed down (10 out of 70) in Michigan, but a majority are still open. There was a Gamestop in my neighborhood that had been around since the Funcoland days, and they closed it due to moving to another location. Which is sad, as that was the one I had the most connection to, and was largest game store in my area. Before 2013, there were 3 GameStops within barely a mile of each other. Now there's only 2 now, but most GS I can go to aren't that far away. Worst to worst, if GS ever does close down, I got plenty of retro/used game stores close to me. Disc Replay usually delivers on the goods. There is also Game Play too. So it is not the end of the world or as doomed as many articles make them out to be.

 

[SupahEwok]

Charging the same $60 for digital is kinda sad, but it?s a way to offset ever-increasing development costs. When I think of spending $80 on Turok 2 back in the mid 90?s for example it doesn?t seem like that big of a travesty.

I wish people would quit peddling that fairy tale. Digital games did use to be cheaper. Around 2011 or 2012 it was standard for console releases that were $60 to be on Steam for $50. Didn't seem to put anybody out of business. The price hike to $60 came when publishers realized just how big the PC market was and that they didn't need to cut the savings from a physical release to entice people to buy their games, so at some point when we weren't looking they managed to tack on the extra $10 which is nothing but pure profit for them. They can get fucked.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

GameStop never made it to my neck of the woods, but I do exclusively buy and own physical copies (bar PS+ freebies) and it's too bad they're not doing that great. I do think they're going to last longer than Blockbuster did though.

 

[Samtemdo8_v1legacy]

Yikes. [https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/19/21132128/gamestop-employees-report-extreme-pressure-desperate-bosses]

Only a matter of time before they go the way of Blockbuster. I?ve grown to appreciate the convenience of buying digital, but the impending loss of physical ownership of software leaves a sour mark on the industry as a whole. Charging the same $60 for digital is kinda sad, but it?s a way to offset ever-increasing development costs. When I think of spending $80 on Turok 2 back in the mid 90?s for example it doesn?t seem like that big of a travesty.

Also it?s not unreasonable to think even a digital game can have a resale market. It?s still considered a good, where transfer of ?ownership? would remain the same regardless if it?s a physical copy or not. It essentially seems to be a strong arm tactic of the digital storefronts to disregard the possibility. Just offer enough sales and hopefully no one will really care.

The answer to rectify this is simple. STOP BUYING DIGITAL! Or at least don't let it dominate your buying habits.

Let there still be job opportunities for game stores and movie stores.

 

[Yoshi178]

if EB games ever dies then i'm still buying physical copies online

fuck digital.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Yikes. [https://www.polygon.com/2020/2/19/21132128/gamestop-employees-report-extreme-pressure-desperate-bosses]

Only a matter of time before they go the way of Blockbuster. I?ve grown to appreciate the convenience of buying digital, but the impending loss of physical ownership of software leaves a sour mark on the industry as a whole. Charging the same $60 for digital is kinda sad, but it?s a way to offset ever-increasing development costs. When I think of spending $80 on Turok 2 back in the mid 90?s for example it doesn?t seem like that big of a travesty.

Also it?s not unreasonable to think even a digital game can have a resale market. It?s still considered a good, where transfer of ?ownership? would remain the same regardless if it?s a physical copy or not. It essentially seems to be a strong arm tactic of the digital storefronts to disregard the possibility. Just offer enough sales and hopefully no one will really care.

The answer to rectify this is simple. STOP BUYING DIGITAL! Or at least don't let it dominate your buying habits.

Let there still be job opportunities for game stores and movie stores.

Game Stop is simply suffering the same fate as many brick and mortar establishments in industries where more convenient online/digital options exists; they?ll right-size and soldier on. I doubt (read: ?I hope?) games will ever go 100% digital, and as long as they exist in a physical format, there will be a place for specialty retailers and a secondhand market.

That said, yes, people need to stop being suckered in by the convenience of digital purchases. Yes, on it?s face, it sounds great to mitigate having to leave your house to purchase games, but I?ve always said, I?ll gratefully ?inconvenience? myself with a trip to the store if it means I actually OWN my games, and all I?ll ever need is a working console, television and electricity to play any one of them.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I know more and more people are buying digital but I don't feel like physical is close to going away yet. I wonder if the main reason GameStop is doing bad is because GameStop has always sucked. I still remember the very very last straw for me with GameStop was when I went to buy TLOU Remastered the day it came out and my GameStop had no copies (unless you pre-ordered) so I went 2 blocks down to Target and they had tons of copies. I never went back since then. If your specialty is fucking GAMES, shouldn't you be better at that than a big box store like Target, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.? Then, of course, GameStop has always been a huge fucking ripoff for buying or selling used games, they give you a few bucks for a used game and sell the thing for $55. I don't even buy NEW games on release for that, I pay $48 at Best Buy for them.

 

[Xprimentyl]

I know more and more people are buying digital but I don't feel like physical is close to going away yet. I wonder if the main reason GameStop is doing bad is because GameStop has always sucked. I still remember the very very last straw for me with GameStop was when I went to buy TLOU Remastered the day it came out and my GameStop had no copies (unless you pre-ordered) so I went 2 blocks down to Target and they had tons of copies. I never went back since then. If your specialty is fucking GAMES, shouldn't you be better at that than a big box store like Target, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.? Then, of course, GameStop has always been a huge fucking ripoff for buying or selling used games, they give you a few bucks for a used game and sell the thing for $55. I don't even buy NEW games on release for that, I pay $48 at Best Buy for them.

^This. For years, Game Stop got away with essentially a stranglehold on the games market, the industry standard $60 price tag a gateway to the sleazy underbelly of their resale market. They left a bad taste in a lot of our mouths throughout the years, and as other/better options opened up, the glowing orange spot on their underbelly was exposed.

 

[Trunkage]

I know more and more people are buying digital but I don't feel like physical is close to going away yet. I wonder if the main reason GameStop is doing bad is because GameStop has always sucked. I still remember the very very last straw for me with GameStop was when I went to buy TLOU Remastered the day it came out and my GameStop had no copies (unless you pre-ordered) so I went 2 blocks down to Target and they had tons of copies. I never went back since then. If your specialty is fucking GAMES, shouldn't you be better at that than a big box store like Target, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.? Then, of course, GameStop has always been a huge fucking ripoff for buying or selling used games, they give you a few bucks for a used game and sell the thing for $55. I don't even buy NEW games on release for that, I pay $48 at Best Buy for them.

I've always skipped EB (Gamestop in my country). We have this thing called JB HiFi, like a Target but just for entertainment. It's usually cheaper there, they are willing to haggle on big items and they have generally good customer service if you can find someone. I don't torch EB with a ten foot pole

 

[Yoshi178]

JB's got great price's but EB usually gets the better pre order bonus's i find

 

[Elfgore]

It's hard to believe this is the same company that once had four locations in a small city, all within two miles of each other. The last time I went into a GameStop though was to get a code for Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon. Literally haven't been in since and that was 2018. I don't even think I bought anything.

 

[Marik2]

Haven't bought anything there in years. I buy my games at target or walmart, so I wouldn't hear about stupid promo stuff.

 

[Squilookle]

Preventing the resale of previously owned games was the entire point digital sales and the services that provide them were introduced in the first place.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

Well I'm of two minds with this. Once online activation became a thing, and even to a degree before that, PC games (and indeed most software) tended to be single use anyway. So for my money the PC market, who's second hand sales are rubbish anyway and physical sales reduced to boxes with a card in them, isn't missing much with physical being phased out. And any event bad enough to render every major online distribution platform's authentication systems inoperable is probably going to have fucked up even more important things and we won't care.

However, the console market is not the same: by design it currently enjoys an extremely robust physical first and second hand market. Its players should make every effort to keep it and should adopt from the NRA its slogan of 'From my cold, dead hands'.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

We don't have Gamestop. Instead we have Game Mania. They offer pretty much the same services. Considering what I've heard of Gamestop, they're nowhere near as exploitative. In fact, some of the deals they offer are IMO kinda good. Like the ones where you trade in games from a specific list of titles to get a discount on a pre-order. Especially for Nintendo exclusives. For example, I traded in Octopath Traveller, a game I disliked and regretted buying, and got Three Houses for ?15 (or 75% off). I'm quite happy with that trade.

I only shop there for Switch games, but I'd miss it if they were to go bust. It's on my commute home from work, so it's easy to quickly stop by. I also know the manager and several of the staff, and we regularly chat when I drop by, so there's also that. And I simply also like the idea of an actual place dedicated to my favorite hobby. There's just something enjoyable about perusing the racks and bins that I don't get from buying digital. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned.

Preventing the resale of previously owned games was the entire point digital sales and the services that provide them were introduced in the first place.

That and cutting out middlemen like manufacturing, shipping and retail from wanting their piece of the pie. That still leaves platform owners (MS, Sony, Ninty) and digital distributors like Valve/Epic/GOG/etc..., but having to pay their cut is apparently acceptable considering the general push towards all digital. Tho you might also be a big enough publisher to have your own digital distro platform, of course, in which case all the monies for you.

 

[BrawlMan]

I know more and more people are buying digital but I don't feel like physical is close to going away yet. I wonder if the main reason GameStop is doing bad is because GameStop has always sucked. I still remember the very very last straw for me with GameStop was when I went to buy TLOU Remastered the day it came out and my GameStop had no copies (unless you pre-ordered) so I went 2 blocks down to Target and they had tons of copies. I never went back since then. If your specialty is fucking GAMES, shouldn't you be better at that than a big box store like Target, Best Buy, Walmart, etc.? Then, of course, GameStop has always been a huge fucking ripoff for buying or selling used games, they give you a few bucks for a used game and sell the thing for $55. I don't even buy NEW games on release for that, I pay $48 at Best Buy for them.

I've only had two cases of bad customer service from GameStop. One was back in 2008 with a lady that was rude. She was known for being impatient and trying to rush customers out the door. It took a threat for my older brother, and the store manager telling her to leave us alone to get her to stop. She eventually got fired.

Another one that's a bit more recent, happened in the summer. One of my favorite GSs I go to, store manager refused to take one of my pre orders, because I quote "screwed one of his sales." All I said to the other customer was that PS plus was no longer free and that's Sony charges for it. The customer was buying OverWatch and the guy still bought the game regardless. If anything I helped the store manager out. Because had that guy not known he would have been upset that he couldn't play online. I got into an argument with the manager, but he eventually let me pre-order. But not without consequence. I told customer service and since in a huge complaint. The next time I came back he had a really good attitude adjustment. They later transferred him to a different GS store that's like 20 miles away from me. Good riddance. I hope he learned from doing dumb shit like that. For a good month, I have to go to a different GameStop when he was still at my favorite location. As it turns out, none of the other managers or employees even like the guy.

Other than those two, I've never had poor customer service from a GameStop.

 

[stroopwafel]

Yeah, physical games and game stores are going the way of the dodo. I actually forgot they even still exist. Haven't bought a physical game in ages and haven't stepped into a game store in probably 2 decades.

I remember game stores in the late 80s and 90s were awesome. You never knew exactly which date a game would come out or even which game with so many surprise releases so it was always exciting. Then mid to late 90s I loved going to this local import store that had all the new JRPG's from the U.S. and the original Japanese titles(very little was still localized in Europe then). Or having games like months and months earlier.

Game stores kind of lost their charm somewhere in the PS2 days. When games were starting to have worldwide releases and gaming got so popular it became this like really corporate enterprise with a more mainstream appeal.

Game stop really seems like a loathsome business with people in charge who only care about money. Nothing like the enthusiasts of old. I believe there are some similar chains here stacked with nothing but second hand garbage. Why even visit such a dump in the first place? Every era has it's own charm. Current generation of games might be all digital(if you don't count the incomplete code on discs and the totally shite 'game stores') they provide experiences I could only dream of 3 - 4 decades ago.

 

[CaitSeith]

Short-term profits at the expense of their own future? GameStop? Nah...