GameStop's future in turmoil as estimated 400 stores close in 2026

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is reaching for his promised $35B payout by shuttering an alarming number of stores

Video game retailer GameStop is kicking off 2026 by shuttering more stores than anyone expected. On Thursday, estimates counted around 295 stores that were either already closed or in the process of winding down. A day later, that number appears to have jumped to nearly 400 stores and counting — with workers expecting many more terminations to come before the end of January.

A blogspot collating store closures through a combination of employee reports and GameStop's own store locator claims that 390 stores are confirmed to have shut down, with at least ten more still in the process of being confirmed. Though Polygon cannot verify the status of every single location listed, the number aligns with GameStop's publicly stated plans. In a December 2025 SEC filing, GameStop's corporate team noted that it had already discontinued 590 store locations in 2024 alone.

"We anticipate closing a significant number of additional stores in fiscal 2025," the filing reads. GameStop did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it is worth noting that its 2025 fiscal year technically ends on Jan. 31, 2026. While the company did not share a specific number in the SEC filing, the wording makes it sound like GameStop aims to shutter a number of stores comparable to those aforementioned 590 closures. Online GameStop communities are also largely filled with workers sharing their woes and grievances surrounding their impending unemployment, which lends credence to the idea that store closures are a widespread problem right now.

In that same filing, GameStop breaks down its plans to wind down its presence in international markets, including Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Canada, and France. All the reported closures this year thus far, however, have been within the United States. The document acknowledges that this approach will likely reduce its sales yield in the immediate future, but that it expects the plan to prove beneficial in the long term.

GameStop has spent the last few years experimenting with its retail approach. After initially eschewing older games in favor of newer ones, the company has recently tried to capitalize on the renewed interest in retro games through its pre-owned program. Many GameStop locations are full of products that appeal to a general nerdy market, like toys and collectibles. The geeky retailer has also continually emphasized its interest in becoming a hub for trading cards via stunts like the one in December, when GameStop paid $30,000 to a customer in exchange for a rare Pokémon card.

GameStop has also partnered with the Professional Sports Authenticator division so that it can grade cards for customers, which helps determine the value of a card. 2025 also saw the creation of a "Power Packs" scheme, where GameStop aimed to make a digital trading card platform, with the idea of allowing customers to buy or store graded cards online. And in 2022, GameStop tried to launch an ill-fated NFT marketplace. More recently, GameStop has made a concerted social media effort focused on viral moments and partnerships with large influencers, like Casey Neistat and Mega64. All the while, GameStop's stock has periodically been buoyed by meme investors intent on raising the company's value, regardless of performance.

Arguably, these adaptations, alongside continued investments in Bitcoin, have allowed GameStop to become profitable in 2025 even as its stock price continues to dwindle. Another SEC filing from early 2025, however, noted that GameStop operated 2,325 locations in the United States at the time. This means that, if GameStop spent 2025 closing 590 stores and started 2026 by closing hundreds more, the video game retailer could be curbing its brick-and-mortar presence anywhere between 20% and 30%. Scoping down like this inevitably helps reduce costs, but it also pulls the retailer's future as a video game hub into question. Though the company does not seem like it will be abandoning video games anytime soon, it appears to be putting most of its hopes in broader categories with higher return on investment, like trading cards.

"The world you grew up in no longer exists," a GameStop social media account wrote on January 6, while quoting its own post regarding a midnight video game release in 2009.

Whatever the case, GameStop's pursuit of profitability may be leaving thousands of people out of work. Meanwhile, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has been promised $35 billion in performance-based stock options in exchange for continued explosive growth.

"Those people at the top who have never actually worked a retail job just see their employees as numbers on a spreadsheet," wrote one alleged former GameStop worker on a thread discussing GameStop's reward structure for Ryan Cohen.