The advancement of technology has done a lot of good things but it has hurt other businesses like GameStop, which has not been doing well for quite some time now. The video game retailer is in discussions for a buyout after its string of financial trouble and its stock has gone up since the announcement. Reports from Variety and Engadget were used for this specific article.

Severe competition from downloads

The video game industry is alive and well, but other services have hurt GameStop's business. Downloads have taken off as people would rather sit at home and purchase their games online rather than going to a GameStop store.

Gamers also have the option of buying games and consoles from Amazon, eBay, and other companies. It is no longer required to go into a store as other businesses have been hurt by this trend.

The brand would rely on selling physical copies of games, console sales, and used games, but that is no longer reliable with gamers purchasing content right from their consoles or from other brands like Amazon. GameStop, due to other competition, has been planning on selling comic books, along with already selling tablets, and other figurines, but it has not been enough to offset the revenue losses.

Other services like PlayStation's live service and Xbox's have been putting out free games every month to please gamers and other streaming services like PlayStation Now and Microsoft's other service gives gamers a lot of freedom to play many games for a reasonable monthly fee.

Credit card breach, change in management

GameStop has suffered from other issues, with a serious credit card breach in 2017, along with having to close 150 stores, as confirmed by Engadget. On top of it all, it has been doing poorly financially, with the brand reporting "a net loss of $105.9 million for the 2017 fiscal year, and with profits continuing to dwindle the company is in need of new direction to turn it around," as reported by Variety.

The retailer will have to adapt to the new trend or else. And the future is not looking so bright for GameStop amid all the trouble. Will GameStop be a long-forgotten brand? It very well could be. The retailer has also had a lot of changes in management, with Variety reporting "J. Paul Raines resigned in November 2017 for health reasons, before his death in March. The next appointed CEO Michael Mauler resigned after only three months in May." The leadership has changed drastically over the yea,r as "former Microsoft exec, Shane Kim took over on June 1."
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