GameStop Closed Down More Stores in Europe

gamerant.com:

GameStop has reportedly shut down numerous stores in Europe, adding to the perceived dire outlook for the video game retailer. For several years now, the prospects and revenue of the company have declined, with some of the primary reasons generally believed to be the player base increasingly turning to digital rather than physical software purchases and the ongoing next-gen console shortage that would otherwise have brought in revenue from hardware sales.

The company began reporting marked sales losses as far back as 2016, with only a few noteworthy upswings in ensuing years, including the now infamous Wallstreetbets short squeeze of GameStop stock in January 2021. But the reputation of the gaming retailer has simultaneously gone downhill as employees have revealed some of the company’s enforced practices, such as the Circle of Life policy, which obligated and even encouraged GameStop workers to lie to customers in order to sell Pro memberships.

Some GameStop Stores Are Having Problems Fulfilling Pre-Orders

Now, a GameStop employee has revealed via Reddit that the gaming retailer has shut down a number of stores in Europe. According to AzzurroDvahri, who was apparently a temporary worker with the company, all of the locations in Switzerland and Austria are “completely gone,” and only half of those in Germany remain open. Along with these closures came the inevitable round of layoffs that have left a number of people jobless in a global economy struggling with some of the highest inflation rates in decades.

This isn’t the first time that GameStop employees have been hit with layoffs in 2022, and the company was expected to close approximately 300 store locations this year. In addition to the closures in Europe, other