Jim Bell, who served as the chief financial officer and executive vice president at GameStop has resigned from both roles and will depart on March 26, Gamasutra reports. No reason has been given for his departure.
GameStop announced Bell’s departure in a press release, noting that he had seen the company through the trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic. During much of his time at the company, GameStop was carrying out an ongoing transformation plan as it struggled to compete with the dominance of software game sales and online retailers like Amazon.
While the company saw a boost from the release of a new generation of consoles, the increasing focus on diskless consoles bodes poorly for the future of traditional games retailers. The company has now closed hundreds of stores and more dramatic changes are seemingly in store, with ecommerce-favoring investor Ryan Cohen now on the board of directors.
The outgoing CFO also oversaw the company’s finances during a Reddit-led stock market upheaval that saw GameStop’s stock price rocket to over $400 and then settle back to $50 over the course of one tumultuous week. The company itself was unable to capitalize on the sudden rally due to regulatory concerns.
The press release states that senior vice president and chief accounting officer Diana Jajeh will step up as interim CFO if a permanent hire hasn’t been made by the time of Bell’s departure on March 26.
