GameStop's CEO Ryan Cohen stands to gain a $35 billion payout if the company's market cap reaches $100 billion, a goal that involves closing hundreds of stores. The retailer has already shuttered 590 locations in 2024 and plans more closures in early 2026. Customer frustrations are mounting over trade-in incentives amid the shutdowns.
GameStop has faced ongoing challenges, prompting a wave of store closures under CEO Ryan Cohen's leadership. According to a recent CNN report, Cohen could receive a $35 billion payout should the company's market capitalization hit $100 billion—roughly ten times its current value. To pursue this ambitious target, Cohen's strategy includes closing numerous physical stores, as detailed in a Polygon article.
A blog tracking closures indicates that nearly 400 GameStop stores have shut down or are scheduled to close this month alone. This follows the closure of 590 stores in 2024, per a December 2025 SEC filing. The filing also reveals plans for "a significant number of additional stores" to close during fiscal 2025, which concludes on January 31, 2026. Internationally, GameStop has exited operations in Austria, Ireland, and Switzerland, closed stores in Germany in 2024, and sold its Italian subsidiary.
As stores close, GameStop is offering a 20 percent trade-in bonus via QR codes. However, this has sparked backlash from customers. On the official GameStop Reddit page, one user expressed dismay over a trade coupon on a closing store's sign, questioning, “GameStop really put a trade coupon on my local stores closing sign?” The same thread saw the original poster label it “a fucking joke,” with others reporting canceled pre-orders.
Despite the downsizing, GameStop has sought to boost visibility through partnerships with influencers like Casey Neistat, Mega64, and Rilie Huntley, who gained fame from a Best Buy ad. Recent promotions included a “trade anything day,” where customers traded unusual items such as sex toys, and a GameStop card loot program that resulted in a record $30,000 trade-in just days prior.
