As gaming moves into a digital future, phsyical retailers are becoming more creative with where they fit into the consumer market. GameStop is one of those retailers that has had to adapt through the years through expanding into merchandise, investing more heavily into streamer culture, and more on digital. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough for 2018 as the company reports a whopping $673 million loss for the full year.
According to GameIndustry.biz, the corporation reported that net sales are down 3% ($8.29 billion), which in turn resulted in a $673 million loss. Though the number was staggering, the company did note that the 2018 numbers were crunched in a 52-week period, whereas 2017’s were held to a 53-week timeframe. They attribute the extra week of sales data as to while the final count seems more dismal comparatively.
As a result, GameStop is working towards other ways to maximize profit, including a renewed focus on collectibles and entertainment endeavors such as GameStop TV. “We are pleased to have delivered fiscal 2018 results within our adjusted guidance range, which included fourth quarter and full year sales growth across video game accessories, collectibles and digital,” GameStop COO and CFO Rob Lloyd mentioned in his report. “Excluding the impact of the 53rd week in fiscal 2017, new hardware sales for the year were in line with last year. As we think about 2019 and beyond, we recognize the challenges facing our pre-owned video game business and are prepared to address them as we continue to evolve our business model going forward.”
GameStop’s vision for 2019 includes implementing more effecient practices while cutting costs for minimal impact in the coming year. Even still, the company projects total sales to be down 5-10% for the new year, despite countermeasures being put into place.
It will be interesting to see what the company does in 2019 with such a strong push into the collectibles market in addition to more attentive streaming presence and a rapidly growing GameStop TV program.
