$7000 PS5 robbery gets GameStop manager fired

A GameStop manager in the US has reportedly been fired after his store was robbed of multiple PS5 consoles, leading other staff to quit.

The manager of a GameStop video game store in Pennsylvania, USA, has reportedly been fired from the company after his store was robbed of multiple PS5 consoles.

According to Kotaku, a newer employee was the only one working at the store when two men entered the store and inquired about buying a PlayStation 5 console. The employee then reportedly opened the door to the backroom where the consoles were stored, after which the men followed him in and threatened him.

A detective working on the case said the employee did not see a gun, but the men reportedly told him to put his hands up and that he wouldn’t get hurt if he complied with directions. The two men cleared the backroom of PS5 stock, reportedly taking 10 consoles valued at around AU$7000, then locked the employee in the backroom.

Surveillance footage of the incident showed the men stacking up PS5 consoles and leaving the building. Picture: Reddit

A week later, the manager in charge of the store was fired by GameStop, despite not being involved in the incident. The manager was reportedly well-liked by other employees in the store, and his firing caused all but two of the employees at the store to quit in protest.

“The man was the most tenured and the top performer in the district,” one store employee told Kotaku, “The dude bent over backwards for the company”.

Kotaku wasn’t able to verify the reason for the manager’s firing, but former GameStop employees suggested that a company policy around stock management may have been the cause. Employees are supposed to ring up the consoles at the register, accept payment, and record their serial numbers prior to retrieving the console.

Many current and former employees on the GameStop subreddit have blamed the company for the situation, complaining that penny-pinching from head office leads to these scenarios by forcing managers to only assign one staff member to a store during some shifts.

GameStop received international attention in 2021 after Reddit users inflated the price of the company’s shares. Photo: Chris DELMAS / AFP

It comes after a huge wave of lay-offs in July, which saw 25% of the company’s workers let go. GameStop laid off more of its employees late last year, letting go multiple employees in the company’s software engineering department.

Shortly before the lay-offs, GameStop employees walked out due to bad working conditions, leaving a brutal note on the store’s front door accusing the district manager of having “no respect” for employees.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.