GameStop Used to Be a Game Store. Its Own CEO Says That’s Not True Anymore
A friend of mine texted me a photo last month from inside his local GameStop. It showed an entire wall of Pokémon booster boxes where the PS5 game section used to be. He just wrote “when did this happen?” Honestly, I didn’t have a great answer for him at the time, but Ryan Cohen just gave everyone a pretty direct one in a recent interview. Video games, in his words, have become largely irrelevant to GameStop’s actual business.
That’s not a throwaway line either. It’s a CEO of a company built entirely around the word “game” telling the public that games aren’t really what pays the bills anymore. Coming from anyone else, that might sound like an exaggeration. Coming from Cohen, backed by the numbers he cited, it’s closer to a simple statement of fact.
The Interview That Got Gamers Talking
The comments surfaced during a conversation about GameStop’s continued interest in acquiring eBay, a deal the company hasn’t dropped despite earlier signals that eBay wasn’t exactly eager to sell. Instead of backing off, Cohen doubled down, and he used the interview to explain why the deal matters so much to him.
What stood out to a lot of people, myself included, was how little time Cohen spent talking about actual games. Even when GTA VI came up, a title practically every major retailer would usually be thrilled to discuss, Cohen redirected the conversation back to eBay, live commerce, and trading cards. That’s a telling choice for someone running a company that still has “game” in its name.
Breaking Down the Numbers Cohen Shared
Cohen put a real figure on it too. Software, meaning packaged and digital games sold through GameStop, now accounts for less than 12 percent of the company’s total revenue. Collectibles make up more than half. That’s not a minor shift, that’s a company that has fundamentally become something else while still operating under its old name.
Independent estimates floating around put software’s actual share slightly higher, somewhere in the mid teens depending on how you calculate it, which lines up with broader industry reporting on the decline of physical game sales. Even with that adjustment, the takeaway doesn’t really change. Games are a small slice of a much bigger pie now, and that pie is mostly cards, figures, and merchandise.
Why Trading Cards Became the Real Priority
Anyone who’s walked into a GameStop recently already knows this part. Trading cards have taken over huge chunks of store space. Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, you name it, it’s front and center now instead of tucked into a small corner near the register like it used to be.
Some stores have gone as far as setting up tournament tables and dedicated seating for card game events. I stopped into one near me a while back expecting to browse used games and instead found a group of teenagers running a Yu-Gi-Oh! draft at a table that definitely used to be a games display. It’s a small thing, but it says a lot about where the company is putting its energy and floor space.
The eBay Angle Nobody Expected
Here’s where things get genuinely interesting instead of just sad for longtime fans. Cohen didn’t frame the eBay acquisition as simply owning another online marketplace. He described something closer to a verification network, where GameStop’s thousands of physical stores would help authenticate collectibles before they’re sold through eBay.
Trading cards were his main example again. Picture this: you’ve got a valuable card you want to sell online. Instead of just snapping photos and hoping the buyer trusts your description, you bring it into a GameStop, get it checked and verified in person, and then that verification travels with the listing. That solves a real, ongoing headache in the collectibles market, where buyers often have no way to confirm condition or authenticity until the item is already in their hands.
I’ve dealt with the opposite situation buying a card online once, waiting nervously for two weeks wondering if it would arrive matching the listing photos. A system like the one Cohen described would remove a lot of that uncertainty, and honestly, it’s one of the more practical ideas I’ve heard from a retailer trying to reinvent itself.
What Happened to New Game Availability
One thing that’s frustrated plenty of shoppers is how hard it’s become to grab a new release at GameStop on launch day. Used games are still stocked reasonably well, but new copies often sell out fast or simply aren’t ordered in the same quantities anymore. There’s been talk that GameStop has quietly scaled back its orders for new physical titles, which fits the pattern of everything else happening in stores.
If you’re trying to buy a new game the day it drops, Best Buy and Walmart have generally been more dependable options lately. Ordering online works too, but shipping delays can mean your copy shows up days after everyone else has already finished the campaign.
The Financial Logic Behind Ditching Games
This entire shift lines up with what’s been happening across the broader push toward digital distribution in gaming. Sony has been open about wanting to lean further into digital only options, and that trend puts direct pressure on any retailer whose business used to depend heavily on physical software sales.
Collectibles simply make more financial sense for a company like GameStop right now. Trade in margins on cards and collectibles tend to run higher than what GameStop earns on new game sales. Used hardware also tends to be more profitable than new console sales. Combine that with years of store closures and staff cuts, and GameStop has actually managed to post positive operating profit recently after a long stretch of losses. From a purely business standpoint, the pivot away from games isn’t reckless, it’s arguably overdue.
What This Could Mean for Collectors Going Forward
If your interest in GameStop these days has more to do with cards and figures than games, this direction is probably exciting rather than disappointing. A retail chain with physical locations nationwide getting into authentication could meaningfully improve trust in online collectible sales, an area that currently relies heavily on third party grading services and slow turnaround times.
It’s not far fetched to imagine a near future where you can walk a card into GameStop, have it verified on site, and list it on eBay with that verification attached, cutting out a lot of the guesswork that currently makes buying collectibles online kind of a gamble.
What Longtime Fans Are Watching Closely
For people who spent their teenage years browsing GameStop shelves during the PS2 and original Xbox days, this shift feels like watching an old hangout spot slowly turn into something else entirely. Back then, games were basically the entire store. Collectibles were an afterthought near the counter, not the main event taking up most of the square footage.
That version of the store isn’t coming back. Cohen’s comments more or less confirmed what a lot of people walking into stores over the past couple years already suspected. The games are still technically there, but they’re not what the company is building its future around.
So Where Does GameStop Actually Go From Here
Nobody knows for sure if the eBay deal will actually go through. eBay hasn’t shown obvious enthusiasm publicly, and acquisitions like this fall apart more often than they succeed. But regardless of whether that specific deal happens, Cohen’s comments make GameStop’s broader direction pretty clear at this point. Collectibles, authentication services, and commerce beyond gaming are where the company sees its future.
That leaves an open question worth sitting with. If GameStop keeps drifting further away from actual games, does the name still make sense? Maybe not literally, but brands survive stranger transitions all the time. For now, the stores are still called GameStop. Whether that name still describes what’s actually inside them is a different conversation entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did Ryan Cohen really say video games are irrelevant to GameStop?
Yes, in a recent interview Cohen said software has become largely irrelevant to the company’s overall business, citing that it makes up less than 12 percent of total revenue.
What is GameStop’s plan with eBay?
Cohen has described a vision where GameStop’s physical stores serve as authentication hubs for items, especially trading cards, sold through eBay’s marketplace, aiming to reduce fraud and build buyer trust.
Can I still buy new video games at GameStop?
Yes, but availability for new releases has become less consistent, with some shoppers finding better luck at retailers like Best Buy or Walmart for day one purchases.
Why are collectibles more profitable for GameStop than games?
Trade ins on cards and collectibles typically carry higher margins than new game sales, and used hardware tends to outperform new console sales in profitability, making the category more attractive financially.
