Why no one will own video games in the future

On the sea change in the gaming industry

GameStop.
(Image credit: Illustrated | AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Almost everyone has a story of what they bought after earning their first paycheck. For me, like so many teenagers of my time, it was a videogame. I walked into a local Toys 'R' Us and proudly picked up Goldeneye 007.

Such stories are of the past though. The video game store is now in decline. This week, noted video game retailer GameStop ended its search for a buyer, and its stock price plummeted. When the country's most prominent game store can't find a buyer — and needs one — the writing is on the wall.

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Navneet Alang

Navneet Alang is a technology and culture writer based out of Toronto. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, New Republic, Globe and Mail, and Hazlitt.