GameStop Looks to a Digital Future
But let’s not forget about its brick-and-mortar past.
Hey it’s Josh. The release of new Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles is occasion for an identity crisis at GameStop Corp., the sprawling chain of video-game stores. New consoles only come around once or twice a decade, and have historically sent Americans flocking to the nearest strip mall with a GameStop. But each advance in gaming gets players closer to a future where they can scratch their itch without ever having to visit that mall again.
Now, one of the company’s largest investors, entrepreneur Ryan Cohen, wants GameStop to finally fully embrace the digital age. In a letter obtained by my colleague Olga Kharif this week, he bemoaned its lack of progress, saying that even with the new console launch, GameStop is spending too much time worrying about its physical stores as it “stumbles around the online ecosystem.”