GameStop to Double-Down on 'High Margin Potential' Trading Cards, Pokémon TGC and the Like a 'Natural Extension of Our Existing Business'

GameStop is doubling-down on trading cards.

In its 2025 Annual Meeting, CEO Ryan Cohen told shareholders that the company had seen its first profitable opening quarter since 2019 due to "reducing costs, cutting excess inventory, streamlining headcount, closing unprofitable stores, exiting under-performing geographies, and focusing on the core fundamentals of the business."

And those fundamentals, it turns out, are trading cards, which Cohen called a "natural extension" of a game retailer with a chain of physical stores.

"We are focusing on trading cards as a natural extension of our existing business," Cohen said. "The trading card market — whether it's sports, Pokémon, or collectibles, is aligned with our heritage — it fits our trading model, it appeals to our core customer base, and it's deeply embedded in physical retail. Unlike software, it's tactile. Unlike hardware, it has high margin potential. It's a logical expansion." The announcement sent stocks tumbling 22%.

There is undoubtedly a huge demand for trading cards right now, particularly Pokémon trading cards. Since the rarest card sold in 2022 for more than $5 million prices have rocketed, with Tokyo police reporting an unprecedented number of trading card thefts in the latter half of 2022. Examples include a Minnesota store reportedly having around $250,000 worth of cards stolen and a Tokyo man allegedly launching a full-on heist to acquire cards. Even an Alabama police officer was allegedly fired for pocketing cards in Walmart, and just last month, a man in the UK was arrested after police discovered he was harboring a cache of stolen Pokémon cards worth £250,000 (approx. $332,500).

After telling shareholders GameStop staff didn't "waste time in Zoom meetings" or "in PowerPoint decks," Cohen said that while in "corporate America, it's totally normal to see excessive executive pay, DEI initiatives that prioritize image over merit, managers managing to Wall Street's short term expectations and analysts, and boards handing out free stock like candy to people who would never buy a share themselves," that wasn't "how [GameStop] operates."

Earlier this year we learned GameStop would be closing more stores and revising its investment policy to invest in Bitcoin. This would lead to the closure of an unspecified but "significant number" of stores in fiscal year 2025.

Around the same time, GameStop announced its board had "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.

Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.