Video game retailer GameStop confirms that more than 100 people have been laid off across the retailer and at its video game publication, Game Informer. GameStop had let go more than 50 managers at its retail stores earlier this month as part of its “GameStop Reboot” restructuring, and these new layoffs are also part of this plan.
Game Informer staff began to share the news of layoffs on social media. On Twitter, the publication’s former senior editor Imran Khan, former senior associate editor Kyle Hilliard, and former associate editor Elise Favis confirmed that they had been let go as part of the layoffs. Former senior associate editor Jeff Marchiafava tweeted his dismay at finding out that he had been laid off while he’s on vacation, and on Facebook, associate editor Javy Gwaltney wrote that “while covering Gamescom in Germany, I found out I’ve been laid off.” More than half of the publication’s staff are believed to have been laid off.
More than 100 employees have also been laid off at GameStop’s corporate headquarters in Grapevine, TX, the company has confirmed to Kotaku. “We can confirm a workforce reduction was implemented impacting more than 120 corporate staff positions, representing approximately 14% of our total associate base at our company headquarters as well as at some other offices,” said the retailer in a statement. It also said that these changes are “difficult” but “necessary to reduce costs.”
For longtime fans of Game Informer and those who enjoy shopping at GameStop, this news will be hard to hear. However, the news is not entirely unexpected. The company’s financial difficulties are well documented, and in June, GameStop’s stock price fell through the floor, with one analyst saying that the company was “burning” to the ground.
Image via Mike Mozart with a Creative Commons license
Source: Reddit, Kotaku
