A GameStop branch in Michigan is in hot water after the entire staff posted a message on the door announcing they'd quit in protest of poor working conditions on the release day for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. While surprising, this is far from the first story about GameStop's less-than-favorable treatment of its employees.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the hottest game on the scene right now after a very successful launch just over a week ago. Gamers from all over the world have been rushing out to grab copies of the game and explore the follow-up to 2017's Breath of the Wild. Some customers in a town just outside of Detroit, Michigan experienced a problem on launch day, though. They arrived at their local GameStop greeted with a message that they wouldn't be able to pick up their pre-orders because there weren't any employees around to help them that day.
The message that customers saw on the door of the Brighton, MI GameStop just over a week ago was posted around social media in recent days. It notifies any incoming customers that the entire staff of the location has resigned, citing management that, "overworks, underpays, and underappreciates its frontline workers." The two-paragraph sign also makes it clear that the former staff does appreciate the loyal customers who were undoubtedly inconvenienced by this mass resignation, but the writer of the sign states, "I literally cannot pay my rent." Many present and former GameStop employees have struggled due to massive layoffs recently.
Sadly, this is far from the first case of an employee walkout at one of the video game retailer locations. Last year, a GameStop in Nebraska also had all of its employees leave after posting a sign heavily criticizing the district manager. The workers' note had strikingly similar comments to make about unrealistic sales pressures from management paired with low wages and low respect for employees. The issues between management and frontline workers would appear to be a running theme throughout the franchise as opposed to just an issue at one store.
GameStop has had no shortage of crises in recent years. The strange situation with its stock becoming viral on Reddit did boost its profile for a while, but that appears to have only been a band-aid while GameStop struggles with consistently waning physical video game sales and recurring employment spats. The future of the corporation appears to be on shakier ground than it has ever been on before.