As you’d guess, game retailer GameStop is pretty happy that new consoles are available for purchase. Fresh hardware means big sales and big sales means increased revenue over the holiday season. For the nine weeks ending Jan. 4, GameStop made $3.15 billion, which is up 9.3 percent from the comparable period the year before (via GameIndustry International).
2012 was the first year since the GameStop-EB Games merger in 2005 that the company saw a year-over-year decrease, so this is a very positive sign for the health of the big business. Hardware sales increased 99.8 percent since last year, while the plummeting popularity of the Xbox 360 and PS3 caused software number to actually slide 22.5 percent. Still, it’s a win for GameStop.
"Our outstanding execution during the holidays resulted in GameStop securing the number one market share position in the U.S. and in most of the countries in which we operate today," GameStop CEO Paul Raines said. "GameStop also had the highest software and accessory attach ratio of any retailer for both new consoles. Building off this momentum, we are in an excellent position to drive the global adoption of the next generation of new video game products in 2014."
GameStop is one of the major contributors to the Xbox One’s 3 million sales mark and the PS4’s 4.2 million units achievement.
