Video game retailer GameStop Corp GME faced concerns over the growth of digital games taking away from physical games and the company's business model.
The company may have a new strategy by offering a place to buy retro video games.
What Happened: Best known as a meme stock these days, GameStop could have a new method to help boost sales in the current and future quarters.
The physical video game retailer announced it is converting several locations into retro gaming retailers to put an emphasis on older video game consoles, games and accessories, tapping into the growing nostalgia of gamers with finding and playing old video games.
“The classics are back. New retro GameStops are now spawning near you," GameStop tweeted.
A picture shared by the retailer highlighted consoles from Nintendo Co NTDOY, Sony Group Corp SONY, Microsoft Corp MSFT and Sega SGAMY.
The consoles highlighted are:
- Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
- Super Nintendo (SNES)
- Game Boy
- Game Boy Advance
- Nintendo 64
- Nintendo GameCube
- Nintendo DS
- Nintendo Wii
- Nintendo Wii U
- PlayStation
- PS2
- PS3
- PS Vita
- Sega Dreamcast
- Sega Genesis
- Sega Saturn
- Xbox
- Xbox 360
The consoles were released between 1985 and 2012 and are among the most well-known gaming consoles of the past few decades with some portable and others meant for use with televisions.
The GameStop website has a tracker to see the nearest Retro Store to a customer’s location.
Why It's Important: While gamers can buy retro video games on Amazon or auction websites like eBay, there may be something about going to a physical store and purchasing the items. There is also the feeling of getting your hands on a physical game and being able to go home and play it instead of waiting days for the mail to arrive.
The GameStop website shows old classics like Super Mario Bros available for sale. Older games in franchises such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Pokemon and Zelda are shown on the website.
GameStop recently announced it was shutting down Game Informer magazine and laying off the staff, a move that didn't sit well for the gaming community.
The hope for GameStop here could be to get more older video game fans into stores as it struggles with new consoles switching to digital-only models and gamers downloading digital games.
GameStop will report second-quarter financial results after market close on Sept. 10 with the potential for investors and gamers to hear more details on the new move.
GME Price Action: GameStop stock is up 7.89% to $21.46 on Thursday versus a 52-week trading range of $9.95 to $64.83. GameStop stock is up 27% year-to-date in 2024.
Read Next:
Photo: Courtesy 1take1shot via Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Comments
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
