U.S.-based video game retailer GameStop has announced plans to sell off its French and Canadian operations “as part of its evaluation of its international assets.”
Following the announcement, CEO Ryan Cohen took to X to say: “Email M&[email protected] if you’re interested in buying GameStop Canada or Micromania France. High taxes, Liberalism, Socialism, Progressivism, Wokeness and DEI included at no additional cost if you buy today!”
The news came in the form of a press release from the company on Tuesday. Based in Grapevine, Texas, GameStop operates in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. As of last year it had a total of 4,169 stores: 2,915 in the United States, 203 in Canada, 404 in Australia, and 647 in Europe, including 332 in France. Most of them operate under the names GameStop, EB Games and Micromania.
Cohen joined GameStop’s board of directors in 2020, and in 2023 he was named chief executive officer, with the company noting: “Mr. Cohen will not receive compensation for serving as the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.”
The retailer has faced years of declining revenues since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, with reports of it having closed more than 700 locations worldwide since that time.
U.S. President Donald Trump has taken aim at “DEI discrimination” measures in the United States since taking office last month. Cohen, who was born in Montreal, has often posted positive remarks about the president on social media, noting incorrectly in November that “Trump has now won 3 elections in a row.” Another post from last summer was just the word “TRUMP” repeated 665 times.
Last year, GameStop announced it would be closing its remaining stores in Germany by the end of January 2025.
GameStop was briefly in the news in 2021 as a meme stock, its stock price inflated by high trading volume stoked by social media speculation. The 2023 movie Dumb Money is a fictionalized retelling of those events.
More recently, shares in the company jumped 9 per cent this month after Cohen posted a picture of himself standing next to billionaire Bitcoin investor Michael Saylor, prompting speculation about the retailer’s cryptocurrency strategy. There was no caption on the photo.
The National Post has reached out to GameStop for comment.
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