Try as it might, the video game industry 
just can’t catch a break this year.
Sales are down 8 percent year-to-date from 2009’s disappointing numbers. Even the most optimistic analysts are now saying that the best investors can hope for is a flat year. And this week has brought new signs that could indicate further weakness—specifically for Electronic Arts and game retailer GameStop.
Game publishers and game retailers have, at best,
an uneasy relationship – so what happens when one becomes the other? It’s a growing question that should make for some interesting times in the years ahead.
Valve Software kicked off the hybrid developer/distributor model in 2003 with Steam, and it wasn’t long before Electronic Arts and Activision followed suit with their own online stores, giving them more control of (and higher margins from) the sale of their games and in-game content. Microsoft and Sony, meanwhile, straddle the fence with the storefronts that are built into the Xbox 360 and PS3.
GameStop has taken a few knocks for being behind the times when
it comes to digital distribution, but now the brick and mortar retailer is showing at least some awareness of the online world. It just might not be exactly what investors were hoping for.
The company has launched the Facebook game “Gangsta Zombies” through its Jolt Online Gaming arm. It’s the second social media game the company has released.
In the video game world, there is no more direct line 
to the enthusiast audience than GameStop.
The retailer, which has more than 6,200 stores nationwide, is a gathering spot for players, who flock there when big games are released. It has withstood numerous attempts by big box stores to encroach on the most profitable parts of its business model.
Chris Morris: Journalist 