How is this a surprise? The entire gaming market has gone download only. Who's going to drive down to the store to pay $70 for a CD key just to go home and have to download the game anyway? If you don't want to give out your credit card info to the services used then you can find giftcards for all the major distributors in the impulse buy section of your grocery store
That's a good point about the subscription/online aspect of it though the tangibles still have a need for physical stores for those who like to touch and feel products before purchasing them. From what I'm reading the CEO appears to be curtailing the international business, closing stores in entire countries, and not surprising due to the direction we're heading with international trade, tariffs, etc. But as far as domestically, I also think the current crushing inflationary pressure over the past four years of the jokers trying to lead the country over a cliff has curtailed people's discretionary spending and affected sales/revenue. Not just this business, but many if not most.
I'm not clear yet on the number of domestic stores there are, but from the ballpark estimate of 4000 or so current stores I'm seeing (domestic+international) that seems to me to be somewhat overextended. In looking through data on domestic store closures it appears there are several places where there were multiple stores in one city/town. I've seen other firms operate like this over time - get a bricks-and-mortar presence on every other corner (so to speak) to become ubiquitous, a household name, then shutter the ones that aren't profitable.
It also seems, from various articles, that the CEO may be looking to steer the business in different directions so that's worth keeping an eye on.
How is this a surprise? The entire gaming market has gone download only. Who's going to drive down to the store to pay $70 for a CD key just to go home and have to download the game anyway? If you don't want to give out your credit card info to the services used then you can find giftcards for all the major distributors in the impulse buy section of your grocery store
That's a good point about the subscription/online aspect of it though the tangibles still have a need for physical stores for those who like to touch and feel products before purchasing them. From what I'm reading the CEO appears to be curtailing the international business, closing stores in entire countries, and not surprising due to the direction we're heading with international trade, tariffs, etc. But as far as domestically, I also think the current crushing inflationary pressure over the past four years of the jokers trying to lead the country over a cliff has curtailed people's discretionary spending and affected sales/revenue. Not just this business, but many if not most.
I'm not clear yet on the number of domestic stores there are, but from the ballpark estimate of 4000 or so current stores I'm seeing (domestic+international) that seems to me to be somewhat overextended. In looking through data on domestic store closures it appears there are several places where there were multiple stores in one city/town. I've seen other firms operate like this over time - get a bricks-and-mortar presence on every other corner (so to speak) to become ubiquitous, a household name, then shutter the ones that aren't profitable.
It also seems, from various articles, that the CEO may be looking to steer the business in different directions so that's worth keeping an eye on.