GameStop launching digital trading card platform
GameStop Corp. continues trying to develop digital alternatives to its flagging store performance.
The long-struggling video game retailer is rolling out a digital trading card platform called “Power Packs” to the general public on Wednesday, April 15. The platform is described as an an online environment where collectors can purchase digital packs to unlock real, Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA)-graded trading cards. Every card is securely stored in the PSA Vault and can be sold back instantly, shipped home, or added to a customer’s collection.
Pokémon, football, basketball and baseball card categories will be available at launch, with packs starting at $25 and ranging up to $2,500. GameStop reportedly closed more than 470 U.S. stores during its fourth quarter of fiscal 2025 (ended Jan. 31, 2026) and in its third-quarter earnings report said it had closed 590 stores in the U.S. during the previous fiscal year as part of a “store portfolio optimization review.”
During the retailer's fourth quarter, sales of hardware and accessories fell to $535.6 million from $725.8 million year over year, while software sales declined to $203.7 million from $286.2 million. However, collectibles were a bright spot, with sales rising to $365 million from $270.6 million. The category now makes up about a third of GameStop's total sales, up 21% year over year.
Other digital steps the retailer has taken to boost its financial performance include investing in bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset, with selling part or all of the investment off at any time as an option.
In addition, GameStop, which had about 2,325 U.S. locations and 900 stores in other countries as of Feb. 1, 2025, recently unveiled a performance award — worth roughly $35 billion — designed to incentivize CEO Ryan Cohen to achieve “extraordinary growth.” Cohen has been charged with increasing GameStop’s market capitalization to $100 billion from its current $9.3 billion capitalization.
Trading cards are big business
Meanwhile, collectible trading cards have attracted the attention of both eBay and Walmart. In March 2025, eBay officially integrated grading from PSA , which it has been strategically partnering with for about three years. eBay also sold its trading card vault (now used by GameStop) to PSA in 2024.
And Walmart Marketplace has been zeroing in on collectors of cards and other memorabilia since summer 2025. In response to internal data showing trading card sales have grown more than 200% year-over-year on Walmart Marketplace, the retailer made its first-ever appearance at the National Sports Collectors Convention in August.
[READ MORE: Walmart takes on eBay in collectibles space]
Walmart also hosted its third annual Walmart Collector-Con digital event, appears at major collectible gatherings such as New York Comic Con, and recently partnered with sports card and collectibles community WeTheHobby to host a weekly series, "Collector’s Night," on its Walmart Live livestream platform.
