It’s Officially the End of an Era for GameStop

GameStop will soon end the points system element of its Pro Membership program, one of the last remaining elements that could essentially be synonymous with GameStop itself. Every month, Pro members receive basic rewards like extra trade-in value, exclusive discounts, free shipping, extended returns, and Reward Points. Reward Points would earn 2% back (20 points per dollar spent) on all qualifying purchases, which, over time, could allow hardcore gamers to rack up additional games more cheaply. But now that’s ending.

While this is no doubt disappointing because it’s such an iconic aspect of the GameStop brand identity, it’s worth noting that identity has been changing for a long time. The shift from physical games to digital ones has closed down hundreds of brick-and-mortar GameStop stores all over the country, while CEO Ryan Cohen has been looking at competitors like eBay to grow. Somehow.

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GameStop Pro Membership Pro Points is Ending in July, August 2026

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Either way, GameStop sent out a memo to store employees this week detailing the change—as verified and first reported by Kotaku. Said memo states that any new GameStop Pro members will no longer be able to accrue Pro Points beginning July 15, and anyone who has renewed before then will see all their existing points expire on August 15. In other words, any GameStop Pro Members with any Pro Points should be sure to go in-store and spend them before that date.

Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.





Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.

Easy (15s)Medium (10s)Hard (5s)Permadeath (5s)

On top of that, GameStop Pro still costs the same $25 dollars per year, meaning it is literally getting worse for the same price. Such a change may not be as harmful as the Xbox Game Pass price hike, but neither would it be surprising to hear of anyone canceling their Pro Membership with the loss of this key aspect of the program. Oh, and of course, since GameStop shut down Game Informer in August 2024, that’s no longer included in the membership either. Game Informer has also since reopened under new management.

Such a change has caused some concerns among GameStop staff, whose customers were already upset with issues with Pro Memberships or other store issues. Really, of course, this is not a pro-consumer move, and that is going to be the crux of the issue amid other economic woes in the gaming industry. Gaming is becoming increasingly unaffordable, and this move falls in line with that, among many other issues.

For example, the new versions of the Steam Deck are much more expensive than they were before, and it feels like a matter of time before PlayStation and Xbox consoles get even more expensive AGAIN, too. New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma recently spoke about how the cost of goods to manufacture consoles has increased in price dramatically. And as everything gets more and more expensive, other things get less and less valuable, like the GameStop Pro Membership Program. And that’s before the consideration, it is actively getting worse with this change.

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