Gamestop Pivoting to Trading Cards - CEO "Our Future Isn't in Games"

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
www.gamespot.com

GameStop CEO Says The Company's Future Isn't In Games

The company is going deeper into trading cards.
www.gamespot.com www.gamespot.com

GameStop is leaning heavily to trading cards as part of it's future strategy, according to CEO Ryan Cohen. The news comes as a part of larger strategy shift to buy and hold a lot of bitcoin.

Cohen has said that continuing to focus on trading cards, including the incredibly popular recent Pokémon card sets, is a "natural extension" of GameStop's business. He added that the collectibles could have potential for high profit margins.
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Pokémon cards have a seen a gigantic resurgence recently. Stores regularly sell of sets, including the Destined Rivals set that launched on May 30. Cards have become increasingly hard to find as scalpers buy up supply and sell Pokémon card products--including cards, special boxes, and accessories--at exorbitant prices.

GameStop has been steadily expanding its Pokémon card services. As of last month, GameStop has graded over one million cards with Professional Sports Authenticator. The store chain doesn't actually grade the cards--a service that evaluates cards based on card quality and rarity--but offers a service where shoppers can drop their cards off at the store and pay an extra fee to have GameStop handle the process for them.
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It's no mystery why GameStop has increased its focus on trading cards. Its revenue in the first quarter of 2025 surged by over 50% on a year-over-year basis largely due to Pokémon.

The GameStop brand has been on a rollercoaster over the past several years, going from the brink of bankruptcy to being the subject of a movie--aptly titled Dumb Money--about the company's surging stock price. The chain, while reporting sporadic profits, has recently gone through store closures, layoffs, and had shuttered it's tie-in magazine, Game Informer. The magazine has since found a new owner.
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It's good decision business wise but it sucks as a fan of gamestop. People love to shit on them and bash them constantly, but i've only ever had 1 bad experience with them and they took care of it immediately and apologized profusely for it which i respected. The people who work there are cool AF the vibe has always been nostalgic too me and i always have found great deals there. Just sucks man cause i feel like a piece of my childhood is fading away.


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This company should have been dead and buried by now. They sucked so bad at what they did they needed a meme stock to stay alive this long. I'll never forget the time I wanted to sell my pretty much new in box just had sat on my entertainment center Xbox One X that I scooped up for $250 on clearance when they eliminated the stock and the employee claimed that the controller I had brought with it which was barely ever used to have said "stick drift" according to the obvious shit ass app they had setup to fuck over anyone trading in a system and only offered me $25 for the whole just about opened new in box system and controller. That controller never, ever, drifted. My og x360 wired controller I still use as my regular PC one cause it fits my hands so good can drift till you press it down on l3 but the one brought in had no such issues whatsoever.
 
It's a smart move. The owner's son at my local mom and pop store has slowly been converting more and more of the store's display and shelf space into trading cards (mostly Pokemon). Physical appears to be on its' death throws and we might have one more console generation supporting it.
 
Won't last 5 years not a big enough market for this for their current stores. I'd imagine 50% of locations will be closed and they will try to become more like a consumer version of microcenter. Selling pc hardware / consoles and skipping media. They will be the hipster version of spensers. Gaming knickknacks, and peripherals. Kinda like a Japanese head shop.
 
Dorfdad said:
Won't last 5 years not a big enough market for this for their current stores. I'd imagine 50% of locations will be closed and they will try to become more like a consumer version of microcenter. Selling pc hardware / consoles and skipping media. They will be the hipster version of spensers. Gaming knickknacks, and peripherals. Kinda like a Japanese head shop.
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They can probably ride the wave of trading cards mixed with retro offerings (consoles and cartridges) for a while, but yea they will definitely shrink more as games go more digital.

They tried so hard to figure out a way to stay in the game with little digital extras and discounts but it just isn't enticing enough.
 
Good on them for figuring this out. Fuck video games. Battletech (or Warhammer, if you are disgusting) and Pen & Paper RPGs is where it's at.
 
Sounds like Game in the UK, which is months away from shutting its doors. They ended trade ins and started selling tat like Funko Pops, their games are also more expensive than everywhere else.

The only way Gamestop can survive is focusing on its preowned business, similarly to CeX over here.
 
I've said it before, but in a way I do feel for the UK equivalent GAME, and by extension GameStop.

Game struggles to be competitive because they can't afford sell cheaper than supermarkets and websites. I know this to be true because I've seen their margins. So when they started devoting more and more of their shop floor to other things it made sense.

I still remember the good old days of being able to refund games you had played, but let's be honest: that was taken away because people abused the hell out of it. I only ever did it once when Jak & Daxter lasted a day and I didn't think that was worth £40.

But the sympathy ends when you think of the other ways these businesses conduct themselves. The game I returned was probably sold as new anyway because of the condition, and being opened makes no difference because they open every box and take out the disc. When other stores were selling COD cheaper, Game employees were sent to buy copies that were then sold in Game stores (or so I heard, don't remember the source for that one).

But high market value trading cards? I wouldn't, personally. I'd take them to a specialist who knows and respects that niche, not some sod on minimum wage who couldn't care less.
 
They don't really have a choice, Xbox is all digital and out of the hardware space entirely. Nintendo has half a foot out the door, and Sony has 7/8th's of both feet out the door. We will be incredibly lucky if PS6 supports discs or a disc peripheral at all. So even if there is a market for physical and trade-ins, they can't sell what doesn't exist.


pqueue said:
It's dead, Jim.

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Gonna be a long, long time till they're dead. They have like $8 Billion dollars (Billion with a B) from selling shares during the meme stock rallies, no debt, and their overall business is profitable (i.e. they're not losing money or operating at a loss).
 
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What a coincidence GameStop shat the bed right after he took over the reigns.

Stores are run like shit, bunch of nonsense policies, website is in the worst shape it's ever been, stires all over the US are closing, inventory is a joke, short staffed, etc.
 
The only reasonable switch would be to become another electronics chain. Trading cards or even board games (which are making a big comeback) aren't a large enough market to support dozens of stores and their staff.
 
Given the fact even Nintendo are moving away from physical this is the leap they need to do in order to remain, Hopefully that bitcoin stack looks after them because the TCG bidnis is rough.
 
ValiantInstance said:
Sounds like Game in the UK, which is months away from shutting its doors. They ended trade ins and started selling tat like Funko Pops, their games are also more expensive than everywhere else.

The only way Gamestop can survive is focusing on its preowned business, similarly to CeX over here.
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Give em another 3 years, and Gamestop will be relegated to a little section at the back of a footlocker selling Pokemon cards.
 
They should/should have merged with Toys R' Us for the action figure(s) market alone. That's a huge industry as well. Further, If anyone could bring back physical games, they along with support from investors and interest from the gaming development sector, could do it. There's enough plastics floating around in the ocean that can be utilized to supply the gaming and toy market for years. To include materials for physical gaming manuals and maps as well. Gaming in the mid 1980s-late 1990s was surely an experience. I miss being able to open a physical map of a game and dive in to the details. Or getting a whiff of a new and fresh gaming manual. I'd pay an extra $5 game price towards the recovery and recycling to make it all happen. Utilizing autonomous or otherwise drone network(s) for recovery of the materials can be done. Need thinkers and motivators to make it happen!
 
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They are an investment holding at this point and nothing more, we should be honest.
Expect more store closures as core business won't get in the green.
 
Turned out to be a shell of what they use to be. Going to Babbages, Software Etc and EB Games was fun and exciting back then. I haven't wanted to walk inside of their store in over a decade.

Sad day when even their CEO doesn't see games in their future. I always had a feeling like they were greedy, money hungry at the top.
 
They see the writing on the wall. Instead of making deals (they probably don't have the capital) to try and be the brick-and-mortar LRG, they'll take the way of least resistance--as they see it.

But I would think collectors of that type of collateral already have places to go/built relationships with dealers. We'll see.
 
The 3 closest GameStops near my zip code have closed down in the last 12~ months.

Now the nearest one is a good 8~ miles away. Not that I've stepped into one in years.
 
The amount of times I lined up outside of an EB Games for hours on midnight launches brings back such great memories. While it does suck Gamestop just isn't the same anymore. The one near me is so jam packed with garbage it's hard to look at games when you can barely walk down the isle because right behind your head is GOT replica sword sticking out. Question is how long is this card fad gonna last, I mean would they be able to keep up with stock as most of these sets are gone in a day whenever they get released.
Kacho said:
They should become a full blown hobby shop. I'd go there to buy paint and models.
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A card/hobby shop would be cool and didn't they want to open up their stores before for people to hang out? if they go with that idea and sell cards/ models and set it up that people can go there to play cards or work on models it could be interesting but not sure how that would work on a large business scale. I know where I live there is a lot of the small local places that do this and they're always so busy.
 
If they had listened to me a year ago, they'd be thriving by now.

intbal said:
They should sell booze.

Digital and cloud gaming is an apocalypse for them. But they've got all that physical store space. Hard liquor doesn't need refrigeration, so no need to refit the stores.
Most of their sales staff are likely depressed alcoholics anyway, so they'll understand their customers very well.
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adamsapple said:
The 3 closest GameStops near my zip code have closed down in the last 12~ months.
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I had one in each small city near me. One I frequented a fair amount because Amazon has lately been slacking with release date deliveries, and I liked the employees there.

Both closed a few months ago I think on the same day.
 
Kacho said:
They should become a full blown hobby shop. I'd go there to buy paint and models.
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If they do that then they should lean into the tech side of hobbies and offer 3d Printing, laser cutting, and desktop CNC supplies too.

It's pretty much online only for that stuff, at least where I live, and while Amazon can get most of the stuff to me the next day, it would be nice to have a local option.
 
Trading cards are the fad now.

Just like comic collecting exploded in the 90's then died due to speculators buying up 'collectible' issues....variants, crossovers, special covers, new#1's...etc....then dried up.

the same will happen soon with cards.
 
My local game store opened up and struggled there in the beginning by just dealing video games. Now they have Magic and Yu Gi Oh tournaments and also buy and sell cards. Kids are still interested in Pokemon cards now. I usually buy them for my nieces and nephews for their birthdays and christmas.
 
GS never really sold trading cards before? I would had thought after console games fizzled out long time ago they would had also done cards to go along with the wall of Funko dolls and other knick knacks they sell.

I dont follow their financials, but amazingly they will stick around for a while. The meme ride years ago built them a warchest of money, and they just issued some notes worth about $2 billion exercisable in 2032. And if bitcoin keep rising over time that adds asset value as they are slowly trying to convert to a bitcoin holding company like a pint sized Microstrategy company. Right now skimming articles, they raised $1.5 billion worth of money earlier and used a bunch of it to buy bitcoin tokens. They have about 5,000 bitcoins now.
 
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Uncontroversial take considering how digital sales increase year by year.
The writing was on the wall when they started selling plastic tat like Funkos.
 
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