Video game retailer GameStop confirms that more than 100 people have been laid off across the retailer and at its video game publication, Game Informer. GameStop had let go more than 50 managers at its retail stores earlier this month as part of its "GameStop Reboot" restructuring, and these new layoffs are also part of this plan.
Game Informer staff began to share the news of layoffs on social media. On Twitter, the publication's former senior editor Imran Khan, former senior associate editor Kyle Hilliard, and former associate editor Elise Favis confirmed that they had been let go as part of the layoffs. Former senior associate editor Jeff Marchiafava tweeted his dismay at finding out that he had been laid off while he's on vacation, and on Facebook, associate editor Javy Gwaltney wrote that "while covering Gamescom in Germany, I found out I've been laid off." More than half of the publication's staff are believed to have been laid off.
More than 100 employees have also been laid off at GameStop's corporate headquarters in Grapevine, TX, the company has confirmed to Kotaku. "We can confirm a workforce reduction was implemented impacting more than 120 corporate staff positions, representing approximately 14% of our total associate base at our company headquarters as well as at some other offices," said the retailer in a statement. It also said that these changes are "difficult" but "necessary to reduce costs."
For longtime fans of Game Informer and those who enjoy shopping at GameStop, this news will be hard to hear. However, the news is not entirely unexpected. The company's financial difficulties are well documented, and in June, GameStop's stock price fell through the floor, with one analyst saying that the company was "burning" to the ground.
The retailer had been hit by the move to e-commerce. Fewer people shopping in its brick and mortar stores and choosing to spend on video game deals at online retailers like Amazon have all hit GameStop's revenue hard. There had been hope that sales of the PS5 and the next Xbox console could reverse the company's fortune, allowing the company to keep going, yet next-gen consoles aren't set to launch until late 2020. It's unclear what will happen to the retailers and the employment of its remaining workforce between now and then.
Image via Mike Mozart with a Creative Commons license