GameStop CEO Accused Of Auctioning Off Remnants Of Game Informer Vault

"Ryan Cohen announced that he was selling a bunch of stuff on eBay to try to fund the Funko Pop store's proposed $56 billion bid for the online reseller site. The stunt follows criticisms that the executive doesn't have enough cash to actually make that acquisition. But it appears that at least some of the items being auctioned could be remnants looted from the legendary Game Informer Vault, where the long-running publication housed decades of video game history before GameStop shut down the publication in 2024."

"Sources close to the situation who spoke under the condition of anonymity told Kotaku that while some of the products in Cohen's eBay listings, such as the baseball cards, weren't from the Game Informer Vault, other items, including some rare retro games, likely were. Some details like the sticky tab on the front of the sealed copy of Dracula for the NES and the sealed casings on copies of Yoshi's Cookie and F1 Pole Position match photos and descriptions from the Vault verified by Kotaku."

""It's easy to remember the sealed games we had because I was always fascinated how they were never opened and too afraid to break the seal to play them despite being allowed to," a former employee told Kotaku. " Game Informer editorial treated the Vault like a library, not like a collection to be auctioned off.""

"One item that sources were not able to verify, however, was the Fallout 4 Vault Boy statue, as it's entirely possible that GameStop stores may have had these statues on location. However, a similar statue appears in MinnMax's goodbye tour of the Game Informer office, and was sent to other outlets like"

Ryan Cohen announced he would sell items on eBay to help fund a proposed $56 billion bid for the online reseller site. The move followed criticism that he lacked sufficient cash to complete the acquisition. Claims emerged that some auctioned items came from the Game Informer Vault, a storage holding decades of video game history that remained GameStop property even after Game Informer returned as a print publication under Gunzilla Games. Sources said some items were not from the Vault, but other listings, including rare retro games, appeared to match verified Vault photos and descriptions. A former employee said sealed games were treated like a library rather than items to be auctioned. Verification was not possible for a Fallout 4 Vault Boy statue, though similar items were seen elsewhere.

Read at Kotaku