GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen expressed a surprising lack of concern regarding the industry's move toward digital-only game releases and the notable absence of a physical version for Grand Theft Auto 6. Cohen stated in a Bloomberg interview that this shift is "totally irrelevant" to GameStop's business model, emphasizing that software sales now constitute less than 12% of the company's revenue, with collectibles making up over half.
Cohen highlighted GameStop's strategic focus on the collectibles market, particularly trading cards like Pokémon. The company has partnered with grading services such as PSA, which is experiencing significant demand that it can no longer meet for lower-tier cards. This focus on collectibles is central to GameStop's business strategy, and Cohen sees potential for its retail locations to serve as authentication hubs for digital platforms, leveraging partnerships with services like PSA. The company's recent initiatives, including a digital pack marketplace for trading cards, are directly tied to this hobby market.
GameStop also profits from selling digital trading card packs, where users can purchase packs and immediately resell valuable digital cards for a portion of their value. This model allows GameStop to potentially sell the same digital card multiple times, retaining revenue from attempts to find rare cards. The company has been known to sell digital packs priced up to $5,000.
Cohen's stated interest in acquiring eBay is also linked to this strategy. As eBay hosts trading card sales and owns TCGPlayer, a leading marketplace, a successful acquisition could grant GameStop significant control over the trading card market, potentially creating a monopoly. This would provide invaluable data on sales trends, allowing GameStop to proactively manage stock and pricing for collectible cards.
In the first quarter of 2026, GameStop reported $143 million in revenue. Based on Cohen's percentage breakdown, this suggests approximately $71 million came from collectibles, with Pokémon cards likely forming the largest portion. Furthermore, Cohen suggested that as physical games eventually disappear, GameStop could pivot to treating older physical game discs as retro collectibles, a market that generated an estimated $3.8 billion in 2025.