GameStop's Microsoft partnership reportedly lands it a cut of digital Xbox revenue

GameStop and Microsoft’s freshly forged partnership brings more to the brick and mortar retailer than a preference for Surface tablets and the ability to offer financing options for next-gen Xbox boxes.

According to a scoop from Ars Technica, GameStop is set to receive a cut of digital sales revenue attributed to any Xbox console that was sold through its stores. This includes, according to investors speaking to Ars, any revenue from full game sales, DLC, and subscription plans.

None of the publication’s sources were able to shed light on exactly how much of a cut GameStop stands to get from these digital sales, but regardless the partnership is an interesting one especially given next-gen’s leaning toward digital-only consoles and the retailer’s own troubled finances.

There’s some debate and speculation from investors about what that percentage could be in the full article, as well as disagreement on if the arrangement covers pre-owned consoles as well as brand new Xbox systems or if it’ll include non-game revenue.

GameStop, meanwhile, has been banking on next-generation console sales to reinvigorate its struggling financials as it attempts to weather a pandemic, end-of-generation sales decline, and brand reboot all at once. However the revenue sharing deal was a quiet announcement really only passively referenced in the partnership press release, leading some of the investors speaking to Ars to speculate if GameStop's takehome will be enough to really impact its bottom line when everything is said and done.