It's a rocky time for videogame retail chain GameStop, and the latest report regarding the company's holiday earnings continues to paint a bleak picture. GameStop has reported that its overall sales during the holiday season of 2018 were lower than the year before.

GameStop reported in a press release that its holiday sale season for 2018 saw a 5% decrease when compared to 2017. According to the retail chain, the drop was primarily due to a reduction in sales of new consoles, and fewer used games being sold in stores. These two factors took a 6.1% and 16.4% downturn respectively, but sales of new games weren't doing too well either, with a 8.3% drop over the holiday season.

GameStop also indicated that the release date for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 may have had a significant impact on the retail chain's holiday earnings. The annual release of new entries to the Call of Duty franchise are usually a heavy hitter for the chain during the holiday shopping season. Instead, Black Ops 4 came out in October. While Black Ops 4 was the highest selling game of October and its sales likely helped to boost the company's earnings at the time, most players would have already long owned the game by the time the holiday shopping season started.

blackout holiday event

Although there were certainly negatives, not everything took a nosedive for the company during the holiday. Sales of video game accessories, collectibles, and digital currency for online games all saw an increase, which helped to balance out the losses in other areas. Even so, while other game stores have closed and major toy retailer Toys R' Us recently shuttered its doors, GameStop has continued to struggle. This has led to GameStop seeking a buyout, which may happen as early as next month.

As sales of video games have shifted to a primarily digital market, stores like GameStop have had more difficulties staying open. Physical sales of in-demand products and systems have helped to boost the retailer's numbers in the past, like the SNES Classic that flew off GameStop's store shelves in record time. Following the massive loss reported during GameStop's Q3 of 2018, however, it seems more doubtful that the chain can keep itself afloat if the current trends continue.

Source: GameStop