GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen Says Physical Game Software Is 'Totally Irrelevant' to the Business

GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen told Bloomberg TV on July 16 that Sony's decision to stop printing physical game discs starting in 2028 has zero impact on his company. His reasoning: gaming software now makes up less than 12% of GameStop's total revenue, while collectibles account for over half. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all," he said flatly.

Cohen's comments are backed by GameStop's own Q1 2026 financial reports. Collectibles — think Pokémon cards and similar merchandise — made up 41.8% of total revenue in that quarter, with hardware and accessories adding nearly 40% on top of that. Gaming software is the smallest slice of the business by a significant margin. When Bloomberg pushed Cohen on GTA 6's discless release eliminating any resale value for retailers like GameStop, he sidestepped the question entirely and pivoted to his ongoing bid to acquire eBay, which he's described as a path to building a "$1 trillion business." His failed $55.5 billion offer for eBay back in May didn't slow that ambition down. Cohen also floated the idea of using physical GameStop stores for "same-day authentication" and building an "in-game, digital marketplace" using eBay's infrastructure if the acquisition ever goes through.

GameStop's transformation from game retailer to collectibles shop has been years in the making. The company closed 590 U.S. locations in 2025 — out of roughly 2,325 it started the year with — and kept shuttering stores into 2026. It has also abandoned crypto and shut down its NFT marketplace after brief experiments with both. Cohen himself became a polarizing figure long before this interview: he turned GameStop into a meme-stock phenomenon, and his public appearances have repeatedly generated controversy, including a May CNBC interview where he claimed not to understand a question about how GameStop would fund an eBay acquisition. GameStop's stock, notably, barely flinched when Sony announced its physical disc phase-out — it actually ticked upward.

The gaming community's reaction to Cohen's Bloomberg comments has been heated, with many pointing out the irony of a company called GameStop treating games as an afterthought. Whether Cohen's collectibles-and-eBay pivot can actually sustain the business long-term remains the open question — but for now, the numbers do support his claim that physical game sales are no longer what keeps the lights on.