It’s only been a year since Reggie Fils-Aimé retired from his position at Nintendo of America, but apparently, he loves the gaming industry too much to stay away.
GameStop has appointed Reggie Fils-Aimé – and two other executives, William Simon and James Symancyk – to its Board of Directors. They face the monumental task of figuring out how to make the struggling video-game retail chain relevant again.
The gaming industry needs a healthy and vibrant @GameStop. I look forward to being a part of @GameStopCorp Board and helping to make this happen. https://t.co/pYWFGZ9XKj
— Reggie Fils-Aime (@Reggie) March 9, 2020
“The Board refreshment and governance enhancements announced today represent an important milestone in GameStop’s transformation as we continue to evolve the Company’s business strategy for long-term success,” said GameStop CEO George Sherman.
“We are pleased to welcome Reggie, Bill and J.K. to the Board. They are each highly qualified and bring significant, relevant experience to our turnaround. We look forward to immediately benefiting from their expertise and perspectives as we navigate the evolving gaming and retail environments, execute on our strategic initiatives and prepare the Company to maximize value-creation associated with the next generation of console launches later this year.”
Well, if there’s anyone who can save GameStop, it’s probably Reggie. The man has a ton of sales and marketing expertise, having quadrupled Nintendo’s revenue from 2005 to 2010. Aimé was also the one in charge during the launch of the Nintendo DS, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch – all of which have been pretty successful.
That said, GameStop’s survival may ultimately require a wish from a magical genie. Digital sales have essentially stomped out physical disks, and on a general note, there’s plenty of other outlets for hardware and game-related purchases.
Reggie’s retirement from Nintendo seemed like an ideal way to cap off a successful career, so this is an interesting decision.