GameStop has announced a round of layoffs due in part to inflation and “weakened consumer confidence” about the market, according to its CEO. This move comes a few months after GameStop management fired its CFO and made cuts at Game Informer, among other places inside the company. Axios, which was first to report on the layoffs at GameStop, said the team working on the company’s blockchain/NFT projects were “heavily impacted.” The exact number of job cuts was not disclosed.
Total Retail’s Take: GameStop is seeking to transform itself in an effort to meet profitability and growth goals, and unfortunately part of this transformation means cost cutting and job losses. What perhaps is most surprising about this latest round of job cuts is the departments in which they occurred — specifically focused on the video game retailer’s blockchain/NFT teams and e-commerce product teams. GameStop targets a younger consumer, and thus leaned into emerging tech solutions like blockchain wallet and NFTs in the metaverse. Now the retailer is pulling back on those investments, a sign that growth in the NFT market has not come as quickly and/or at an acceptable rate to warrant the headcount leading those initiatives.
