The absence of new video game releases last year contributed to the Irish arm of Gamestop recording pre-tax losses of €5.07m in 2020.
That is according to new accounts for GameStop Ltd, which show that revenues decreased by 14%, or €5.1m, to €31.69m in the 12 months to the end of January this year.
According to the directors' report, the business experienced a reduction in sales relating to store closures because of Covid-19.
The directors state that new game releases did not take place in 2020 "and therefore 2021 will see the release of new titles and therefore improvement in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)."
Some of the best-selling games of 2021 include Fifa 22, Mario Party Superstars, Call of Duty: Vanguard and Battlefield 2042.
The directors state that they mitigated the impact of Covid-19 "through wage subsidies, rent abatements, property tax reliefs, temporary staff lay-offs and VAT liability measures".
The directors however add that the economy and business should return to normalised levels "with GameStop Ltd expecting to return to profitability in the later part of FY 2022".
The business recorded an operating loss last year of €3.26m, which takes into account non-cash depreciation charges of €3.5m.
The pre-tax loss also takes account of interest charges of €1.8m.
The pre-tax loss of €5.07m last year is a decrease of 34% on the pre-tax losses of €7.68m in the prior year.
Numbers employed by the business last year reduced from 303 to 204 and staff costs totalled €6m. The firm received €363,121 in Government Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) Covid-19 payments.
The directors state that the pandemic has accelerated GameStop's shift to online sales, where previously most of its sales had typically been through its nationwide network of retail stores.
The directors state "we will open stores where we can identify a profitable opportunity and we will consider closing any stores that are not performing to expectations or where the cost base, particularly occupancy costs, are out of line with the business levels in the location."
The company's cash funds last year increased from €2.86m to €4.48m.
Earlier this year, Gamestop’s US parent was at the centre of a trading frenzy that pushed the value of the video game retailer to over $24bn.
At one stage over a two day period, an army of small investors pushed the market capitalisation of Gamestop up by $10bn.
The market capitalisation of Gamestop Inc today was down to $12.09bn.
