GameStop is a longtime presence in the video game retail industry. Things looked bad, but they continue to look worse and worse. Usually, the holidays are a great time for retailers. With plenty of people shopping for presents, you usually finish Q4 in the black, or in a profit. That’s where Black Friday gets its name originally. For GameStop, the holidays should have been a positive story in an otherwise lackluster year. It turns out even holiday shopping wasn’t enough to help the store out of its hole.

$1.8 billion USD sounds like a ton of money, which is what GameStop reported to shareholders this week for holiday sales. Unfortunately, $1.8 billion is a 27.5% decrease in holiday sales from last year. Even 2018 was a rough year, so further decreases are a sign of serious trouble. The news hit the market, and shares in GameStop dropped 16%.

It’s not like GameStop isn’t trying to compete. The company recently started selling a lot more merchandise and toys than in past years. In fact, GameStop is a popular place to get exclusive Funko items, one of the collectible industry’s hottest items. It’s still not helping. GameStop’s stock as of January 2020 is 24.5% lower from last year, and nearly 70% down from a few years back. So, is this all on GameStop?

Not necessarily. The year for gaming sales was highly influenced by two major things. Firstly, console sales are down for everyone as we await the release of the Xbox Series X and PS5. Plus, 2018 saw a ton of sales in games thanks to the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. That game alone accounted for $725 million in three days of sales across gaming retailers. So, what’s the plan from here?

Last July, I wrote about what might save Gamestop in 2019, and a lot of it still carries into 2020. It’s getting tricky as Amazon, Walmart, and Target make gaming a huge focus of their inventory and sales plan. Still, a new console cycle and some creative marketing might help GameStop out of a rut, if just temporarily.

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