Once a juggernaut of the retail video game space, it seems that the days are numbered for the GameStop corporation. According to a new report from Polygon, the company is set to close hundreds of stores this year, after having already closed hundreds last year. Users on ResetEra have corroborated the claims by saying they’ve received emails from GameStop notifying local customers of when their specific branches would be shutting down.
Blog “Gamestop Closing List,” which routinely updates which stores are closed or will soon be closed, has indicated roughly 296 stores in the US has being closed this week. For January 2026 alone, the company has shuttered 390 stores, with more yet to come. One now ex-employee even took to Reddit to write, “We are all cattle to the corporate maters, numbers on a sheet, disposed of at their whim. And as terrible as it is, while it may be personal to us, it isn’t to them. So screw them.”
Overseas is no better. As outlet RNZ reports, EB Games (a subsidiary of GameStop for overseas locations) is proposing closing all of its retail stores in New Zealand. In a memo sent to employees and shared with the outlet, managing director Shane Stockwell wrote, “This proposal is not final, and no decision will be made until we have completed a full consultation process in good faith with affected team members… If the proposal were to proceed, it would mean that all roles within EB Games New Zealand would be disestablished.”
In GameStop’s 10-K annual report for the financial year ending in February 2025, it stated there were only 38 stores left in New Zealand. That same report also stated it had closed 590 US stores in the 2024 financial year, with the company “closing a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025.” That is on top of GameStop ceasing operations in Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as selling off its Italian subsidiary while still shopping around its French and Canadian branches.
All of this comes at a time when GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is set to receive a $35 billion payout should he manage to propel GameStop’s market cap to $100 billion. The current value of the company is 1/10th of that, but it’s not hard to assume the store closures are some twisted way of increasing company valuation. Anything to make the line on a graph go up, including putting people out of work and jeopardizing their futures.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
