The past few years have been an incredibly tumultuous time for GameStop, including record lows in terms of revenue and major directional shifts while facing off against the digital age. Now the massive retailer is back in the spotlight once more, this time for not only raising the price of their Pro Membership but also changing one of the key reasons people have it outside of the Game Informer subscription.
The first change is the price rise for their Pro services as the retailer confirms they are bumping it up from the usual $14.99 to $19.99. The feature most used is the additional 10% off of all used games and accessories. Given that it’s a trade shop, used games is an easy to way to scoop up those beloved titles for a cheaper price with an additional discount for Pro members. In lieu of the 10% discount, the team is instead opting into a $5 reward certificate to be given out each month, though it has a quick expiration date and cannot be combined with other reward certificates.
While this move might upset some, from a purely logistical standpoint it does make sense. All-digital has been a growing threat to storefronts like GameStop and the Google Stadia reveal amped that up exponentially. With Microsoft and Sony also throwing in their support by teaming up for their own streaming service, GameStop isn’t – unfortunately – in a position to ignore the inevitable any longer. With more of a dive into physical merchandise like collectibles and apparel, paired with a shift to their core membership, hopefully, it’s a move that benefits both the company for thriving in this environment and their customers.
As far as the membership goes, the Pro changes are currently in beta, which means if the reaction doesn’t seem like a worthwhile tradeoff, they might not be permanent.
Source: GameStop
Published: May 21, 2019 04:11 pm