Austin Design Team Helping GameStop Enhance Its Image

AUSTIN, TX — GameStop Corp. on Monday announced a strategic partnership with the Austin-based team of global innovation design firm R/GA to strengthen its focus on creating unique in-store experiences as part of its strategic move to reaffirm its place in the video gaming culture, officials said on Monday.

The partnership with R/GA’s Austin and Chicago teams, is part of GameStop’s broader business transformation strategy to evolve its efforts in cultivating innovative customer-centric opportunities to bring video game culture to life in every neighborhood, officials explained. GameStop’s renewed customer-first focus stems from qualitative and quantitative research led by GameStop and R/GA that identified four major motivations gaming fans have for playing video games – immersion, achievement, creativity and community, officials added.

Together, GameStop and R/GA are developing and piloting new and streamlined physical store concepts, introducing new ways for gamers to try new titles before they buy them, and giving stores a unique layout and purpose that appeal to gamers, officials explained. From store concepts that offer competitive sessions in home-grown e-Leagues to locations that sell strictly retro gaming software and hardware, GameStop will pilot the new store concepts in a select market to present something new to players both old and new, and searching for experiences in gaming beyond the console, officials added.

“We’re on a journey to use our vast retail footprint to provide an engaging and well thought out experience that enhances our consumers’ gaming interests, Frank Hamlin, chief customer officer at GameStop, said in a prepared statement. "Among its many strengths is R/GA’s ability to leverage consumer insights and technology to reimagine the experience our consumers can have in our physical space. Our investment in this partnership is the next stage of our transformation and growth strategy."

According to the R/GA research, video games are no longer just a form of entertainment, but are a fundamental part of the fabric of a modern customer’s life. This consumer believes gaming is the most immersive, most challenging, most creative and most inclusive form of entertainment and vibrant storytelling available, and in many cases is an important facet of their identity. No other specialty retailer understands this more than GameStop. As the world’s largest video game retailer, it appreciates gaming fans’ thirst for compelling experiences, immersive adventures and virtual world escapism.

“GameStop has always had a role in the gaming ecosystem,” Candice Hahn, SVP, Managing Director at R/GA’s Austin office, said in a prepared statement. “We’re focused on filling the needs and desires of gamers, and amplifying the core assets of the business, to turn GameStop into a reimagined format for its consumer base of today and tomorrow.”

About GameStop

GameStop Corp., a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, is a global, multichannel video game and consumer electronics retailer. GameStop operates over 5,700 stores across 14 countries. The company's consumer product network also includes www.gamestop.com and Game Informer® magazine, the world's leading print and digital video game publication.

General information about GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the company’s corporate website. Follow @GameStop and @GameStopCorp on Twitter and find GameStop on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GameStop.

About R/GA

R/GA is the company that creates transformation at speed. An innovation leader for more than 40 years, R/GA has expanded and evolved to offer business transformation, experience transformation, and marketing transformation through its award-winning consulting, ventures, technology, design, marketing communications, and IP practices. Its work spans web, mobile, and social communications, retail and e-commerce, product innovation, brand development, and innovation consulting. The company has more than 2,000 employees globally with 18 offices across the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia-Pacific. R/GA is part of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG), one of the world’s largest advertising and marketing services organizations. For more information about R/GA, please visit www.rga.com and on Facebook and Twitter.