GameStop to close nearly 500 US stores as retail footprint shrinks

By Kaycee Enerva January 22, 2026

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GameStop is set to shut more than 470 stores nationwide as it continues to scale back amid ongoing challenges in its core business.

Earlier this month, the retailer disclosed in a securities filing that it intended to close a “significant number of additional stores”, although it did not specify which ones.

The latest round of closures follows an aggressive downsizing over the past year.

In its third-quarter earnings report, GameStop said it had closed 590 US stores during the previous fiscal year as part of what it described as a “store portfolio optimisation review”.

The company has been struggling for years to adapt to changing consumer behaviour, as more customers shift to digital downloads and game streaming.

Alongside its retreat from brick-and-mortar retail, GameStop has signalled a shift in how it deploys its cash. In a recent regulatory filing, the company said a portion of its cash, or proceeds from future debt and equity issuances, may be invested in bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset.

“The pivot to bitcoin is really a defence against irrelevance,” said Neil Saunders, MD at GlobalData Retail, in comments to CNN.

“An odd thing as it’s basically saying the strategy isn’t retail but to act as some kind of cryptocurrency investment vehicle”.

GameStop has not publicly released a complete list of store closures, but its website already shows hundreds of locations marked as closed.

WKYC has been tracking closures taking place this month across dozens of states, including California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, among others.

Earlier this month, the company revealed plans to close down its EB Games subsidiary in New Zealand, closing all stores and terminating all staff contracts, as reported by our sister site Inside Retail New Zealand.

Established in 1984, GameStop is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer, headquartered in Grapevine, Texas. It operates primarily in the United States, with presence in Canada, Australia, and parts of Europe.