The video game retail chain GameStop will close all remaining branches in Germany by January 31, 2025. Sales have now begun and services are only partially provided.
Already had last year GameStop significantly reduced its local branch network, with over 100 stores closing. Of the original 200 branches in Germany, 69 are currently still open; These branches will be used for sales during this year's Christmas business.
Accordingly, blow on the German one GameStop's web presence currently huge banners storming the rest of the games and hardware range. “Everything has to go” and “-10% on everything” are written on it to make the purchase of physical software and console peripherals attractive to customers. The discount promotions apply to both deliveries and collections in stores.
GameStop is scaling back services
In view of the impending closures, which will affect almost 500 employees, GameStop has also restricted its services Games economy reported. Specifically, this means for customers:
- Video games that will be released from 2025 – for example Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 or Monster Hunter Wilds – can no longer be pre-ordered
- Trade-ins for used games or consoles are no longer possible
- The sale of vouchers has been stopped locally
However, it is unclear whether GameStop Germany's online shop will continue to operate after the store closures. In other European countries, for example Italy, branches have been sold to local dealers who continue to run the business under a different name.
More about the closure of GameStop Germany:
GameStop's withdrawal is of course due to the trend towards digital game sales. In the PC segment, around 90 percent of video games worldwide were purchased as digital downloads last year, while only 10 percent of sales were physical copies. The console sector recorded around 72 percent digital sales in 2022, while 28 percent of gamers chose physical versions.
Part of the downward spiral is the fact that boxed games often only come with a download voucher or a data carrier with only a fraction of the game data. This means collectors have little incentive to fill their shelves with new titles. On the other hand, often only a large number of data carriers can handle modern data sizes.
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