GameStop holiday sales up 22%, revenue hits $2.85 billion

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 8th 2009 at 2:42PM }

GameStop ignored the so-called "economic crisis" as it went on to generate $2.85 billion in revenue during the holiday period (November 2nd through January 3rd). Overall sales were up 22.3 percent over last year and store sales were up 10.2 percent. Despite not sharing actual numbers, the behemoth did reveal the top-selling titles during the period:

Call of Duty: World at War
Guitar Hero World Tour
Gears of War 2
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Wii Fit

The company also noted that hardware sales were "robust" for Wii and Xbox 360. GameStop has raised its financial forecast for Q4 and the rest of the year, with CEO Daniel DeMatteo noting that in spite of the recession, the "average transaction was higher this year" and sales grew in "every worldwide territory." Ca-ching!

[Via GameDaily]

Tags: gamestop

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dirty @ Jan 8th 2009 2:47PM

Apparently my "Death to Gamestop" campaign is not working. I blame the wii entirely.

copa @ Jan 8th 2009 3:21PM

Well, at least PS3 users honored your boycott.

PS3 customers also apparently supported your "Death to Best Buy" campaign, your "Death to Wal-Mart" campaign, your "Death to Amazon" campaign.

Uh, you did start those other campaigns, right?

jsgbullseyetm @ Jan 8th 2009 5:23PM

@copa: Oh, I get it. You're making fun of PS3 sales. *Votes up comment*

Buckshot @ Jan 8th 2009 2:55PM

Gaius for the f'ing win!

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 8th 2009 3:00PM

Tell me - is it the constant liberal brainwashing that makes you think any successful corporation, particularly one on which our industry heavily relies, is 'evil'? Or is it just general stupidity?

Here in LA we have Gamestop and countless mom & pop stores like Gamedude. I've been treated rudely in both, and both have new & used games for roughly the same price. So I definitely don't get the Gamestop hatred. It's just a store.

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 8th 2009 3:00PM

And no, I apparently will never click the right 'reply' button.

Shenorock @ Jan 8th 2009 3:23PM

If it's one thing I hear prominent liberal politicians repeat over and over again it's that successful corporations are the devil *cough*

Douche Bigalow @ Jan 8th 2009 9:34PM

Anti-corporatism is the heart of the liberal movement. So while you're trying to be sarcastic, you're really just hitting the nail on the head.

Courtney @ Jan 8th 2009 2:56PM

I still remember the first time I stepped foot into a Gamestop (after my local Babbage's folded/morphed). I thought. I thought, "This place sucks, they'll be leasing out this store space to someone else in another six months once it goes down the tubes."

I wonder if that's how all evil empires start. People just don't take them seriously when they're small.

F1 @ Jan 8th 2009 2:57PM

I can't fucking wait for the new season to start! Battlestar Galactica FTW!!!

Ghaleon @ Jan 8th 2009 3:02PM

Understandable that clueless people shop there, but I can never believe how many people bitch about GameSlop but still shop there. BARF

KeenCommander @ Jan 8th 2009 3:17PM

I feel bad for the people who bought World Tour. My brother got it for Christmas and, while I've liked all Guitar Hero games so far - including 3 (haven't tried Aerosmith), that game is flat out painful to play. When I can't wait for the set to be over so I can stop playing...you know there's something wrong with your game.

baby sea tuna @ Jan 8th 2009 3:21PM

I'm still amazed that it managed to sell better than Rock Band.

KeenCommander @ Jan 8th 2009 4:55PM

Perhaps the stupidity surrounding the lateness of Wii and PS2 (still biggest mainstream consoles) of RB2 hurt them...more than a little bit? That's the only reason we're stuck with World Tour (for PS2). Plus Guitar Hero is still a big name...even if Rock Band is a much better game.

Alien Lord @ Jan 8th 2009 3:17PM

Fuck that is a really bad picture of Trisha Helfier.

343 Guilty Fart @ Jan 8th 2009 3:19PM

I'd still hit it.

SunKing @ Jan 8th 2009 3:31PM

That was my first though too but I still echo 343's sentiment lol ;)

The Dark Wayne @ Jan 8th 2009 10:26PM

she's not wearing clothes, so no it isnt

Blank-Mage @ Jan 9th 2009 4:13PM

Also a valid point, Wayne.

Wiinterfang @ Jan 8th 2009 3:18PM

Well you can find some pretty Cheap shit on gamestop so I don't see the problem, also yes they rip you off when you sell your games but they aren't forcing you to do it.

Chris @ Jan 8th 2009 3:38PM

If you take advantage of EDGE and the on-going promotions they have, it's hard TO get screwed by gamestop. Just be a smart shopper.

AwesomeTown @ Jan 8th 2009 3:49PM

Sorry, even the toaster cylons have more personality than a typical CEO.

ander @ Jan 8th 2009 4:08PM

basically, if your game doesn't have the words "World" "War," or both in the title, and isn't a first-party Nintendo Wii title, you aint selling.

R @ Jan 8th 2009 4:10PM

As a former employee/Manager who quit because that corp fucks over the employees far more than the customers but ends up fucking with both.(esp forcing employees to push that reserve shit and shit Mag/card so they can get more hours scheduled for them the next week)

Don't shop there Boycott Gamestop.

Heh working at a grocery store with half the hours and getting twice the pay and uses NORMAL paychecks I play/afford more games now than I ever did working at Gamestop.
Everyone I knew that worked for that corp after leaving that place always end up in happier jobs that treat them better.

AwesomeFilipina @ Jan 8th 2009 4:43PM

I'm about to make my escape from GameStop. After working for a year and getting to know the business model. I just can't make the discount worth the bullshit they make their employees go through.

Charlie_Six @ Jan 9th 2009 5:25AM

Horror stories from Gamestop employees is really widespread. I'm surprised the company keeps on chugging along. I guess it must be like how QA Testing is in the game industry. Lots of young people "love games" and will put up with crappy pay and working conditions.

Rein @ Jan 8th 2009 4:15PM

Plot twist!

I'm a Cylon. :O

Limezor @ Jan 8th 2009 6:17PM

Gamestop sucks.

Cutty @ Jan 8th 2009 7:26PM

GameStop also observed that having the letter 'W' in your game title boosts sales dramatically.

Markus @ Jan 9th 2009 12:15AM

Wow. I feel really bad for the PS3. I mean I love my 360 but I like have the competition. When 2 companies compete for your dollars, the consumer wins. When there is only 1, then you take what you are given. And the Wii is a toy. Not a game machine.

Markus @ Jan 9th 2009 12:17AM

And yes, I can't spoke right.

aj @ Jan 9th 2009 12:23AM

It's probably more to do with GameStop being the ONLY game in town in most places than with GameStop actually being a good game store.

But you know what? I've never been to a good game store. Even the independent ones want to fuck you hard and long. It makes the hobby really, really hard to enjoy because the people who set up these stores just hate gamers, they hate you, and they don't want your business.

It's not GameStop, it's an industry-wide attitude and I don't know how we can fix it as consumers.

Charlie_Six @ Jan 9th 2009 5:39AM

Years ago I thought it'd be great to open a game store, but I was told it's a really crappy business to go into. But looking at Gamestop's success makes me wonder..

Charlie_Six @ Jan 9th 2009 6:10AM

hmm i did some number crunching and it appears that Gamestop's net earnings for its previous quarter was 2.7%. So while they sold $2.85 billion during this period, they probably made about $80 million. From what I know, a profit margin of 2.7% is just mediocre/average.

Charlie_Six @ Jan 9th 2009 5:56AM

Dear Gamestop shoppers, please stop buying and selling used games there, and instead use Ebay. Ebay is much cheaper for the buyer, and much more lucrative for the seller as well. It's win-win for gamers no matter how you look at it.

Ebay is not hard to use. Selling is really easy too. Just put up a listing, type in the game title, and Ebay automatically fills in all the important stuff.
When someone wins, they pay you, you print out the postage, slap it onto your game's envelope, then just put it in the mailbox. You don't need to go to the Post office or anything.

I can understand buying stuff from Gamestop if you're making impulse purchases. But otherwise, Ebay is the way to go.