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GameStop stock price takes large hit after Xbox Digital Game Pass Announcement

atomsk

Party Pooper
Gamefly is great for brand new games.

This is the reason I keep my subscription, the service works great if you know how to manage it.

2017 so far I've rented:

Dishonored 2
Battlefield 1
Gravity Rush 2
DiRT Rally (bought cheap for VR)
Hitman: The Complete First Season
For Honor

and Horizon Zero Dawn just shipped yesterday.
 

sensui-tomo

Member
Gamestop could announce price matching like all their competitors have and I'd go back there, otherwise they're the worst place to buy new games.
 
They aren't. General purpose computing devices are fundamentally different from computing appliances.

They are. Flash Sales, Pre-loads, digital storefront's blowing up, F2P games growing, MMO's and Service Based games finding strong footings, the actual architecture and components of the systems themselves. strong online App support like Internet Browsers, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc.

Consoles are more like PC's than at any other point in the history of the industry.
 

JABEE

Member
This hurts GameStop, because the games available on these services are games they most likely have tons of used inventory. It's also a philosophical danger, because this threatens their entire business model.
 
This hurts GameStop, because the games available on these services are games they most likely have tons of used inventory. It's also a philosophical danger, because this threatens their entire business model.
Yup if this Xbox thing blows up it could be like blockbuster vs Netflix
 

Kthulhu

Member
A digital only future is not good for gaming.

I understand the convenience, but imho digital should be far cheaper msrp than physical.

Sadly only a the PC market seems to understand the positives of digital only.

I worry about physical dying for Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo, as it would lead to a lack of competition, whereas Steam and other services compete.
 

Mooreberg

Member
This would have been a much smarter way to cut GameStop out of the loop four years ago than what was initially attempted. Then again, it took those years of engineering on b/c and library building on Xbox One to make this viable. But yeah, GameStop is screwed in the long run. They never built good will with customers, and publishers will only deal with them to the extent that broadband constraints in North America force them to.
 

shingi70

Banned
This is the big reason why Gamestip has been aggressively diversifying into merch like thinkgeek and becoming a publisher.
 
To Gamestop's credit, they've somehow survived and thrived in the last 15 years, despite being the most consumer hostile store that I can think of, and numerous threats from WalMart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, Steam, XBL, and PSN.

It's marvel that they still exist and have mostly thrived, so they must have some business sense. Although I hope that in 5 years time they are kicking themselves for not trying to use their capital to invest in a digital service... Using their brand recognition and market value to introduce a console streaming competitor, partnering with a streaming service.

Sadly only a the PC market seems to understand the positives of digital only.

I worry about physical dying for Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo, as it would lead to a lack of competition, whereas Steam and other services compete.

There is slightly more competition now. It was just this generation that you started seeing retail stores like Amazon selling game licenses and then undercutting the digital MSRP on them. It was very unusual a year ago, but just last week Amazon was having a digital Xbox Live / PSN sale on a handful of games that were cheaper than those on XBL/PSN.

Steam introduced undercutting on MSRP not because of competition (because for virtually all of steam's existence they were the only real digital service on PCs), but because they wanted to bring users into their ecosystem. The concept of the Steam Sale was a way to get more people registered on Steam and comfortable buying digital games. It worked magnificently.

I'm still one of those weirdos who is willing to pay more for the convenience of a digital game, so paying $60 for a new digital game doesn't really bother me, even if I can get the same game (in physical form) for $40 or $50 on Amazon.
 
A digital only future is not good for gaming.

I understand the convenience, but imho digital should be far cheaper msrp than physical.

The full-on digital future is atleast two generations away. We just want GameStop to DIAF created by a mountain of used games and refurbished consoles, sparked by the sweat of the employees who've been pushed to sell the shitty and shady tactics of lies and deception.

Fuck EB/GameStop. I'd love them if they had a little (a little!) but of decency and care not only about their audience but the industry. They're a retailer at heart with no heart. They're far better ways to be a retailer.
 

foltzie1

Member
As much as I hate Gamestop, I fear what would happen to physical games if they start to disappear.

So long as there are physical games a secondary market will exist to resell those titles.

The likely result is a general media resale company. Games, movies, music.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
My guess is Sony is still trying to recoup the $380+ million investment they made in purchasing Gaikai and the undisclosed amount they payed for Onlive. Switching to a service like this would be basically writing off their whole game streaming initiative.

Yeah, the thing people forget is despite Sony's overall healthy lead against Microsoft worldwide, they are in a much more precarious position given Sony's financials. Overall revenue and profits are down, and PlayStation is basically the sole bright spot recently for them. While they're in the lead it doesn't quite make financial sense for them to burn more money trying to maintain it.

To Gamestop's credit, they've somehow survived and thrived in the last 15 years, despite being the most consumer hostile store that I can think of, and numerous threats from WalMart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, Steam, XBL, and PSN.

It's marvel that they still exist and have mostly thrived, so they must have some business sense.

They definitely do. Had they not, they would have died by this point, but they have seen the writing on the wall for a while and have been doing their best to adjust their heading as much as possible.

As fast as they can move, though, they're still a retailer fighting against digital.
 

Ensoul

Member
This seem pretty good but we will have to see how the game selection is. 9.99 is a good price especially if there is a decent amount of newer games. Still, it is a bit more expensive than psn now (which I guess is 100 bucks for the year if you pay at once.) Regardless big advantage that this games are not streaming.
 

breakfuss

Member
To Gamestop's credit, they've somehow survived and thrived in the last 15 years, despite being the most consumer hostile store that I can think of, and numerous threats from WalMart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, Steam, XBL, and PSN.

It's marvel that they still exist and have mostly thrived, so they must have some business sense. Although I hope that in 5 years time they are kicking themselves for not trying to use their capital to invest in a digital service... Using their brand recognition and market value to introduce a console streaming competitor, partnering with a streaming service.

Idk. Maybe. But didn't they just buy up a whole bunch of other chains? That's how it feels in Florida. They essentially don't have any competitors.
 

vpance

Member
For all those celebrating, GameStop is the one company that was fighting like hell against the original Xbox One announcement. GameStop is the only reason that initiative died as quickly as it did.

In 2013 it seemed like the end of the world, for some. But a little bit of time and familiarity with convenience is all that's needed to change minds about a fully digital future.
 

Fuchsdh

Member
I fear more so for the devs who are losing more and more money. Without devs making money we aren't getting games.

We're gonna' get games no matter what. The question is do video game budgets come down to more reasonable levels, or do we see fewer and fewer big tentpoles try and prop everything up.
 

QaaQer

Member
Pressure to maximize profits is nothing new. That's business.

But this service isn't pressure to introduce rng micro transactions into games.

It's an opportunity for publishers to try to compel users to buy digital instead of used.

The poster's point was that throwing old gaming s on a nearly free service makes sense if they want to stimulate microtranaction purchases. I merely commented that this would be another reason to load games up with packs crates hats or whatever the term du jour is for gambling mechanics is.
 
The amount of people who think somehow Gamestop is tied to the fate of all physical games is astounding.

Nothing would happen to physical copies of games. There are countless better places to spend your money.

Even if you're young and don't have a credit card, target, walmart, best buy, or other stores sell games.
 

JABEE

Member
What percentage of new game and console sales does GameStop represent? I believe they are the biggest retail partner despite their small store size. It's why the platform-holders relented on GameStop's demands to have physical copies in bundled console skus.
 
To Gamestop's credit, they've somehow survived and thrived in the last 15 years, despite being the most consumer hostile store that I can think of, and numerous threats from WalMart, Target, Best Buy, Amazon, Ebay, Craigslist, Steam, XBL, and PSN.

It's marvel that they still exist and have mostly thrived, so they must have some business sense. Although I hope that in 5 years time they are kicking themselves for not trying to use their capital to invest in a digital service... Using their brand recognition and market value to introduce a console streaming competitor, partnering with a streaming service.



There is slightly more competition now. It was just this generation that you started seeing retail stores like Amazon selling game licenses and then undercutting the digital MSRP on them. It was very unusual a year ago, but just last week Amazon was having a digital Xbox Live / PSN sale on a handful of games that were cheaper than those on XBL/PSN.

Steam introduced undercutting on MSRP not because of competition (because for virtually all of steam's existence they were the only real digital service on PCs), but because they wanted to bring users into their ecosystem. The concept of the Steam Sale was a way to get more people registered on Steam and comfortable buying digital games. It worked magnificently.

I'm still one of those weirdos who is willing to pay more for the convenience of a digital game, so paying $60 for a new digital game doesn't really bother me, even if I can get the same game (in physical form) for $40 or $50 on Amazon.

They had a digital store front. I think they still do in congregate. Do they try to promote it? Not one bit, so much so that I'm not sure it exists anymore lol.
 

andymcc

Banned
Gonna be great when our net neutrality protections are gutted and Trumpistan's private internet is all functioning on metered connection with fast access add-ons for gaming and we no longer have physical stores to reliably get our media.

Internet dystopia y'all.
 

Chris1

Member
To be honest this is pretty much exactly what MS wants. They've been wanting to cut out retail / the middle man for a while now. Its a big part of what was going on with the original Xbox One reveal.

Remember all those interviews / articles that GameStop was doing prior to the Xbox One's reveal saying people wouldn't buy a console that doesn't play used games? Its pretty clear there's been a movement within MS to bring forward the all digital age as quickly as possible.

Frankly, Xbox / MS likely see this as a win

What's gonna happen if Gamestop just says "fuck it, we won't stock your software or hardware any more" now though ?

Physical is still the majority and MS needs Gamestop to sell Xbox's. Don't you think trying to force all digital is a bit risky right now? MS has a lot to lose here if Gamestop fights back.

Gamestop stopped stocking hardware with digital games bundled, who's to say they don't just stop stocking Xbox period?
 

Shirow

Banned
This could potentially be one of the best things that happens for devs and publishers really. GameStop shares taking a dip is kinda proves it.

GameStop has been making bank for years as a rental service really. Many gamers would buy a game trade it in and get another used game ad infinitum basically taking the game makers out of the loop after the first transaction.

I know many of my friends used to do this just to "have something to play" every month.

Now with this the publishers can get more $$$ to fund more games potentially.
 

xabbott

Member
We're gonna' get games no matter what. The question is do video game budgets come down to more reasonable levels, or do we see fewer and fewer big tentpoles try and prop everything up.

Yea, it's interesting to think that between Minecraft and GTA you're seeing two very different budgets producing similar results.
 

shingi70

Banned
What's gonna happen if Gamestop just says "fuck it, we won't stock your software or hardware any more" now though ?

Physical is still the majority and MS needs Gamestop to sell Xbox's. Don't you think trying to force all digital is a bit risky right now? MS has a lot to lose here if Gamestop fights back.

Gamestop stopped stocking hardware with digital games bundled, who's to say they don't just stop stocking Xbox period?


Then they'll lose sales from Walmart, Amazon, best buy carrying those products.
 

krang

Member
Depends. Recently Walmart in Canada came within inches of dropping Visa from their payment options because Visa is top tier in terms of rent seeking and fucking over retail 'partners'. If Walmart can contemplate dropping something as omnipresent as Visa, GS certainly will mull sropping a single console.

None of us know what is going on behind the scenes tho, so just guessing. But if MS is making moves to hurt/kill GS core business...

Walmart isn't a dying chain, though.

Not stocking Xbox hardware to get back at MS is cutting their nose off to spite their face.
 

Luminaire

Member
Sony should be the one sweating. A service like that sounds awesome. And no PSNow doesn't count, not at those prices at streaming only.
Why would they be sweating? It simply adds a reason to get an Xbox to reasons people already had to get one. This alone may not sway many people from picking an Xbox over a Switch or PS4, but in the grand scheme of what MS offers, it's an added value. If they rolled it in with the cost of gold, that'd be even better.

GameStop should be sweating because if Sony and Nintendo adopt similar programs, there's little incentive to hit up the pawn shop that is GameStop. All three companies could gut GameStop with ease if their digital presence was stronger and other retail outlets were closer in total revenue to GameStop.
 
Laughably wrong take.

Are you kidding?

Publishers get ZERO cut from Used. All pubs will embrace this.

I respectfully disagree.

I don't know about you but I haven't bought a bluray since I got netflix.

I'm not talking about used game sales. Just game sales in general.

(I don't buy used games)
 

Kill3r7

Member
What's gonna happen if Gamestop just says "fuck it, we won't stock your software or hardware any more" now though ?

Physical is still the majority and MS needs Gamestop to sell Xbox's. Don't you think trying to force all digital is a bit risky right now? MS has a lot to lose here if Gamestop fights back.

Gamestop stopped stocking hardware with digital games bundled, who's to say they don't just stop stocking Xbox period?

This is a real possibility. The only thing that will stop them from doing so would be the idea that they would be helping out their competitors. Furthermore, their revenue would definitely take a hit. The question I guess would be who blinks first.
 
It's also a place where young game enthusiasts can work. We've lost places where music and movie kids can work, I hope we don't lose this as well.

Young game enthusiast barely get hired at GameStop. That's barely the type of people the company wants. They want people that can sell subs and warranties.
 

Muzicfreq

Banned
All the shitting on Gamestop yet people don't realize just how important they are for advertisement to people who don't use services...
 
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