GameStop Store Closures Mount Amid $35B CEO Compensation Plan

GameStop closed hundreds of U.S. stores in early 2026, with employees and customers reporting limited advance notice. The company’s board approved a performance-based compensation package that could pay CEO Ryan Cohen up to $35 billion USD.

Closure notices appeared during the first weekend of January 2026, often taped to storefronts and paired with QR codes offering a 20% trade-in bonus. The same offer was referenced in customer emails, according to social media posts. 

Employees said some locations remained open only briefly after notices went up.

Estimates indicate up to 296 stores have closed or are set to close, with additional locations still being confirmed.

Workers said the cuts affected even well-performing stores and that some staff received only a few days’ notice. One affected employee wrote online, “we are all cattle to the corporate [masters], numbers on a sheet, disposed of at their whim.”

Customers in several regions said closures have forced longer trips, sometimes 30 minutes to more than an hour, to reach the nearest remaining store. Employees at locations awaiting closure reported reduced inventory as shipments slowed.

GameStop Store Closures Expand as CEO Compensation Hinges on Growth

The shutdowns align with GameStop’s December SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filing, which said the company planned to close a “significant amount” of additional stores by Jan. 31, the end of its 2025 fiscal year. The retailer closed about 1K stores worldwide over the previous year as it continued scaling back physical retail. 

As of early 2025, GameStop operated roughly 3.2K stores globally, including 2,325 in the United States.

At the same time, the board approved a compensation plan that could award Cohen up to $35B in stock options if GameStop reaches a $100B market capitalization and records at least $10B in cumulative earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Meanwhile, the company’s current market value is about $9.5B.

“His compensation is entirely ‘at-risk’,” an SEC filing states, tying payment solely to performance targets. The structure was reported by CNN Business and likened to incentive plans used elsewhere in the tech sector.

As closures continue, employees have turned to social media to reflect on the loss of stores that once served as local gathering points for gamers, highlighting the human impact of the company’s ongoing retrenchment.