In a conference call with investors, video game retailer GameStop confirmed plans to close 180-200 "underperforming" stores this year.

It is fairly well-known amongst hardcore circles that the digital download age has not been kind to GameStop, and that their managerial responses have been… “subpar”. After shedding over 100 employees recently, including a large portion of their Game Informer staff, GameStop is posed to let go even more people and property when it closes 180-200 stores this year. Not only that, but they’re gearing up to close more in the coming years.

I’m not too sure about how this will help them, as, honestly, this feels like the beginning of GameStop’s end. Regardless, GamesIndustry.biz reports that a GameStop representative alluded to plans for implementing a new, metrics-driven approach to gauging store performance that will lead to many more closures.

"We have a clear opportunity to improve our overall profitability by de-densifying our chain," the representative said during the call. "And while these [180-200] closures were more opportunistic, we are applying a more definitive, analytic approach, including profit levels and sales transferability, that we expect will yield a much larger tranche of closures over the coming 12 to 24 months."

This story is likely to continue unfolding over said 12 to 24 months, and we’ll be here to let you know of any major developments. We wish the staff affected by these closures the best in their future endeavours.