GameStop Plans to Close a 'Significant Number' of Stores, And Invest Into Bitcoin

GameStop has announced it will be closing more stores, and also making a change to its investment policy. The video game retailer is getting into Bitcoin, as it's added the cryptocurrency as a treasury reserve asset.

In a recent filing, GameStop confirmed it will be closing an unspecified but "significant number" of stores in fiscal year 2025. The specific set of stores has not been identified for closure.

Around the same time, GameStop announced its board has "unanimously approved" an update to its investment policy, adding Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. In the aforementioned filing, the company said a "portion of [its] cash or future debt and equity issuances may be invested in Bitcoin." GameStop has not set a maximum amount of Bitcoin it could accumulate, and said it may sell any Bitcoin it acquires.

GameStop has gone through several rounds of closures already. Per CNN, the U.S. has seen 590 locations shut down and the overall count reduced to 2,325 as of February 1. The global count stands at 3,203, down from a peak of roughly 6,000.

In March 2024, the company announced job cuts, and analysts seemed skeptical revenues could rebound.

The Bitcoin adoption is curious, as GameStop already tried to launch a cryptocurrency wallet, which it shut down after a little over a year. Still, GameStop has also found itself at the center of sudden stock surges. Per Axios, GameStop did trade up 15% in the late morning after the announcement of its Bitcoin plans, even as companies like Microsoft have voted down similar proposals.

In some tangential GameStop news, its former magazine Game Informer was recently ressurected under Gunzilla Games. The magazine has been re-established, with all the staff laid off on its last day returning, and plans to renew efforts across physical and digital.

Photo by Ying Tang/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.