GameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. As of 28 January 2023, the company operates 4,413 stores including 2,949 in the United States, 216 in Canada, 419 in Australia and 829 in Europe under the GameStop, EB Games, EB Games Australia, Micromania-Zing, ThinkGeek and Zing Pop Culture brands. The company was founded in Dallas in 1984 as Babbage's, and took on its current name in 1999.
Logo since 1999 | |
| Formerly | Babbage's (1984–1999) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| Industry | Retail |
| Predecessors |
|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Number of locations | 4,413 (Jan 2023) |
Area served | Several countries
|
Key people | Ryan Cohen (Chairman and CEO) |
| Products | |
| Revenue | US$5.93 billion (2022) |
| −US$312 million (2022) | |
| −US$313 million (2022) | |
| Total assets | US$3.11 billion (2022) |
| Total equity | US$1.32 billion (2022) |
Number of employees | 11,000 full-time 14,000–27,000 part-time (Jan 2023) |
| Parent | NeoStar Retail Group (1994–1996) Babbage's Etc. (1996–1999) Barnes & Noble (1999–2004) |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | gamestop |
| Footnotes / references | |
The company's performance declined during the mid-to-late 2010s due to the shift of video game sales to online shopping and failed investments by GameStop in smartphone retail. In 2021, after retail investors on Reddit noticed that the short interest exceeded 100%, the company's stock price skyrocketed from $17.25 to over US$500 per share. According to the SEC report, this volatility was only in part due to the shorts covering their positions, but mostly thanks to the massive buying power of retail investors. The company received significant media attention during January and February 2021 due to the volatility of its stock price in the GameStop short squeeze. The company is now ranked 577th on the Fortune 500. GameStop also owns and publishes the video game magazine Game Informer.
During their initial transformation into an e-commerce business, Gamestop launched an NFT platform; where they offer users the ability to buy or sell digital goods in various web3 games online (Note: The Gamestop wallet has shutdown development as of November 1st, 2023. The marketplace now works exclusively with MetaMask or WalletConnect).