14 DAY TRIAL // A financial analyst has recently suggested that GameStop, the biggest specialist video game retailer in the world, will try to expand its role in the funding and support of game creators in the coming months in order to secure a bigger number of exclusives that it could then translate into bigger sales for the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.
The revelation has been greeted with concern by both gamers and developers, because it could create a situation where certain content is only offered to those who buy a title in a certain store, a situation that can limit the enjoyment of some coming releases.
The chief executive officer of the company, Paul Raines, says that the company has no actual plans to become directly involved in video game creation because that would take the focus away from its core role, which involves marketing and distribution.
Gamasutra quotes the CEO as saying that “All we’re talking about is extending capital and distribution skill-set into the console publishing and development space. I don’t think that involves any creative controls or influence at all. I think we’d be foolish to tell developers how to develop games or publishers how to bring product to market.”
GameSpot has already posted a significant improvement in its financial results after the launch of the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony, and research suggests that a higher number of gamers are now getting their content from the chain.
Raines says that his company is also looking to expand in order to get its customers a number of other services that are associated with gaming and the high-tech world, including phones and other hardware.
He adds, “We’ve got great people, we’re flipping leases of GameStop stores into phone stores, we’re bringing associates over from the gaming space there. The bottom line is, we’re trying to redefine ourselves as a family of specialty retail brands.”
GameStop is an important element of the gaming industry, but many players see it as a problem because of its insistent marketing and because of the way it makes money from used game sales.
At the moment, the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are selling better than the current gen did at the same moment during their lifetime, but some publishers have said that the transition between the two is still a little slow and can affect game sales in the long term.