Gaming retail chain GameStop is reportedly making a major policy change when it comes to selling video games. According to a reputable Twitter user, GameStop has finally begun to implement a price matching policy.
The embattled brick-and-mortar gaming store chain has consistently made headlines over the past several months, largely due to the volatile GameStop Reddit stock market fiasco. The situation involved day traders on the subreddit r/wallstreetbets, where Redditors bought and held a vast amount of shares, driving the price up. This caused big-name investors and hedge funds' shorted stocks to expire, amounting to huge financial losses as a result of the process.
News of the sudden shift in GameStop's business practices comes courtesy of gaming deal-tweeter Wario64. He explains that while the company has yet to officially announce the new policy, the retailer will "finally" begin to price match other competitors, such as Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart. An additional tweet provides further details on the new policy, which is expected to follow similar parameters as other companies which offer price matching on gaming merchandise. The product in question must be the exact advertised price as well as the identical product. The policy excludes things like bundles, coupons, and flash deals, and price matching won't be valid on things listed in marketplaces like Amazon and Walmart.
Beyond implementing a new price-matching policy, GameStop continues to change its business model in other ways. Last month, it was revealed during an investor call with CEO George Sherman that GameStop is looking to expand its range of products, which will include things like PC gaming hardware products. Items such as motherboards, power supplies, monitors, GPUs, and other products found within that niche. The company has already begun offering many PC components on its website, with plans to expand its digital offerings in the future.
GameStop improving its policies and product selection is a sensible move for the company. This is largely because of the (formerly) premier PC part brick-and-mortar chain Fry's Electronics abruptly closing down nationwide. The 36-year-old tech retail chain posted a brief statement on its website, citing the pandemic and changing retail landscape as the reason behind closing all 31 of its locations. The situation could provide GameStop with a sort of power vacuum that could help give the struggling chain a much-needed second wind.
The reported new GameStop price matching should come as wonderful news to gamers, with many fans feeling the policy is overdue. While the dust around the business's rollercoaster of a stock ride continues to fully settle, it's still being discovered what those who cashed in are spending their money on. Some of the Reddit winners have decided to adopt gorillas, although the money just supports their conservation, rather than literally adopting a primate as a pet.