“Halo 5” has been out for a while now, and the sequel to one of the most iconic gaming franchises came with a lot to offer to its fans. Many people were worried that the game might not live up to its hype and that it could end up a disappointment to die-hard “Halo” fans who’ve been waiting for a good sequel for a while now, but in the end reception is pretty much universally positive and the game managed to earn a lot of well-deserved success on the market. At this point, it’s clear that the franchise is here to stay.
However, while the game kept earning serious profits and players were having a lot of fun with it, GameStop have been going against the grain and claiming that the launch of “Halo 5” was a disappointment, and that the game didn’t live up to expectations. In the context of $400 million in sales across the globe, that sounds a bit strange and some people have been questioning GameStop’s claims, wondering where the store is coming from when they made that statement.
GameStop themselves haven’t really been giving any specific details about why they considered the title a disappointment, other than vague claims comparing their sales to digital downloads. But according to some, this could give a little insight into why the company is speaking so critically of “Halo 5”.
It’s no secret that GameStop are slowly fading away and the company will likely be largely irrelevant in a few years, as digital downloads are becoming the norm on the gaming market. Fewer and fewer people would bother going to a store to buy a physical copy of their games anymore, especially when digital marketplaces tend to come with great promotions and discounts nowadays. On the other hand, GameStop have traditionally been known for some questionable market practices, such as the really low exchange rates for trade-ins and other issues that people have been complaining about for a while.
So, according to some, it would only make sense that GameStop would want to bash the product of a company that’s almost directly contributing to their demise. The Xbox and PlayStation are becoming much more deeply integrated with the idea of digital sales as well, and it’s not just a privilege for PC gamers anymore, so it’s not clear how much longer GameStop’s model will stay relevant.
Meanwhile, “Halo 5” has been scoring positive reviews and great reception among fans, and the game is also expected to become a prominent name in the competitive scene, continuing the legacy of the main franchise. We don’t know if we’ll be hearing about “Halo 5” to the same extent like we’ve been hearing about the previous games in the series, but we definitely expect that the game will be in the headlines for some time in the future and people will be talking about it quite actively. Hopefully it will still be in a positive tone.
As for now, it looks like there is a lot of interest on the GameStop situation, as the company has apparently managed to inadvertently draw attention to their own problems. While GameStop love to claim that they have a strong market share, a realistic look at the market paints a slightly different picture and the situation is actually a bit worrying for GameStop itself, so we aren’t sure how much longer the company can keep up their model.