PS4, Xbox One boost GameStop’s holiday sales

As expected, the release of Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in November 2013 helped boost GameStop's holiday sales. For the nine-week holiday period ended January 4, 2014, GameStop totaled $3.15 billion in global sales — a 9.3% increase compared to the 2012 holiday sales period.

The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 undoubtedly had a big role in the company's holiday sales as new hardware sales saw a 99.8 percent increase year-over-year. On the software side, strong next-gen software sales were reportedly offset by a "greater than expected decline" in Xbox 360 and PS3 software sales, resulting in new software siles declining 22.5 percent year-over-year.

Other GameStop business showed improvement, with pre-owned goods up 7 percent, digital sales up 14.9 percent (to $207.3 million), and mobile sales up 23.8 percent (to $94.8 million).

"I am pleased to report that the extensive planning by our entire team over the past year to prepare for the new console launches paid off," said GameStop CEO Paul Raines. "Our outstanding execution during the holidays resulted in GameStop securing the number one market share position in the U.S. and in most of the countries in which we operate today. GameStop also had the highest software and accessory attach ratio of any retailer for both new consoles."

"Building off this momentum, we are in an excellent position to drive the global adoption of the next generation of new video game products in 2014," he added.

GameStop's position took a little hit to begin 2014, with Sony having unveiled PlayStation Now — it's cloud-based game streaming service — at CES 2014. The service, which allows gamers to stream PSOne, PS2, and PS3 games to PS4, Vita, or other connected-devices, certainly poses a threat to GameStop's brick-and-mortor business; although, the retailer has said it would like to work with Sony on PlayStation Now.