The latest partnerships are hardly the gaming retailer’s first foray into esports. In 2006, GameStop signed a multiyear deal with esports league Major League Gaming and partnered with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment more recently in 2017 for a fighting game tournament featuring the latter’s “Injustice 2” title.
This time, GameStop’s esports push coincides with the company’s attempts to reinvent itself in light of the changing gaming retail landscape. Before GameStop concluded efforts to sell the company in January, the retailer had already been forced to close stores after being hit hard by digital sales.
The company last week named retail veteran George Sherman chief executive, the fifth CEO in just over a year. And despite focusing more on gaming accessories and boosting its rewards program, over half of the analysts on the Street who cover the company’s stock rate it as a hold.
Nevertheless, Hamlin stresses that GameStop still has a footprint that allows it to grow the esports community and forge ahead with partnerships.
“Domestically, we have 3,800 retail stores for gamers that are within a skateboard ride of 85 percent of the U.S. population,” he said. “We believe that by hosting esports gaming clinics and tournaments across our retail stores will give us an advantage with the amateur community. That’s our role for our partners and our specialty retail advantage in the video game ecosystem.”
Complexity Gaming founder and CEO Jason Lake also commented on GameStop’s significance for the gaming community, emphasizing that the kind of exposure that GameStop can offer “can’t be given by other corporate partners.”
“I think GameStop is synonymous with gaming in North America, … and they’re looking to modernize what they’re doing across the industry,” he said. “From our perspective, they’re a better corporate partner as they’re a partner that’s been synonymous with gaming for so long.”
GameStop will also be partnering with the Collegiate Star League to promote and establish college-level esports tournaments and events.
Shares of GameStop are down 20 percent year to date after the stock plummeted in late January when the company ended efforts to sell itself. The company is set to report earnings on Tuesday.
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