GameStop, the long-standing video game and Funko Pop retailer, is expecting to report severe financial losses for the first quarter of 2020. This heavy blow, which included the permanent closure of over 300 stores, is heavily attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic forcing its stores to temporarily close.

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, GameStop released these grim projections about Q1 in a preliminary report, which covers from around February to May 2nd. The full results will be posted on June 9th, but it has reported GameStop is losing around $162-$172 million dollars. This is a major drop from last year's Q1 report, where GameStop made a profit of $6.8 million.

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As many readers may expect, the biggest reason for this dramatic loss is the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic hit GameStop particularly hard during March and April when it had to close all 3,526 of their stores in North America due to mandatory lockdown orders, along with around 76% of its 1,802 international stores. GameStop claimed it was an essential business and attempted to skirt the mandatory closures, but this only drew the ire of local governments and those concerned about the spread of the virus, and that's without going into how poorly protected the retail employees were from the virus.

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Near the end of Q1, GameStop has been able to reopen some of its American stores as fears over the pandemic lessened and businesses were itching to make money again. However, GameStop has also had to close around 90 locations temporarily due to the nationwide protests over Geroge Floyd's death. Around 30 of these locations are expected to remain closed for longer due to damage sustained during the protests.

As for sales numbers, GameStop is reporting that total global sales are expected to be a third less from the $1.5 billion it made last year. Not counting stores that were closed due to the pandemic, store sales are expected to be 16% to 17% less than normal. GameStop also expects to have sold more hardware and less software during this quarter. It's safe to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly stymied GameStop's plans to reinvent itself and stay relevant in the digital age.

MORE: A Timeline of GameStop’s Response to the Coronavirus

Source: GamesIndustry.biz