GameStop acquires Geeknet and ThinkGeek

GameStop has proven today that great video game news can from outside of E3 this week. With the rise of video game sales on the digital format, companies like GameStop have suffered from selling physical copies of popular titles. While they did see a profit last year from new hardware sales, it is still obvious that something must be done if they want to stay afloat. It seems that something has been done with the announcement of GameStop acquiring Geeknet and everything under their ownership, including ThinkGeek.

Having had financial troubles of their own, Geeknet had Ben looking to merge with another company themselves. According to the press release from GameStop, the company originally had plans to merge with retail store Hot Topic, known for band t-shirts and other pop culture items. This merger was destroyed after they found the deal with GameStop to be more in their favor. GameStop acquired Geeknet for $140 million at $20 a share. With Geeknet also comes ThinkGeek, an online retailer who sellers video game collectibles, apparel, and other fun toys. CEO of GameStop, Paul Reines, had this to say about the deal, “This acquisition creates value to all stakeholders involved. The addition of Geeknet is an important expansion of our global multichannel platform and we are excited to leverage their product development expertise to broaden our product offering in the fast-growing collectibles category and deepen relationships with our existing customer base.”

We could be seeing less bins of old and unwanted games and more collectibles and Zelda t-shirts at GameStops around the world. Let’s hope this deal is a step in the right direction for GameStop, Geeknet, and us.