{"id":779772,"date":"2026-05-07T14:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779772\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T14:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T14:05:14","slug":"gamestop-ceo-accused-of-auctioning-off-remnants-of-game-informer-vault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779772\/","title":{"rendered":"GameStop CEO Accused Of Auctioning Off Remnants Of Game Informer Vault"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen announced that he was selling a bunch of stuff on eBay<\/a> to try to fund the Funko Pop store\u2019s proposed $56 billion bid<\/a> for the online reseller site. The stunt follows criticisms that the executive doesn\u2019t have enough cash to actually make that acquisition<\/a>. But it appears that at least some of the items being auctioned could be remnants looted from the legendary Game Informer\u00a0Vault, where the long-running publication housed decades of video game history before GameStop shut down the publication in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Video Game History Foundation<\/a> founder Frank Cifaldi posted on Bluesky<\/a> accusing Cohen of selling off items from the Vault. Though\u00a0Game Informer<\/a>\u00a0has since returned as a print publication<\/a> after the outlet was acquired and revived by Gunzilla Games in 2025, the Vault and all the contents found inside remained GameStop property.<\/p>\n

Sources close to the situation who spoke under the condition of anonymity told Kotaku that while some of the products in Cohen\u2019s eBay listings, such as the baseball cards, weren\u2019t 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\u00a0for the NES<\/a> and the sealed casings on copies of\u00a0Yoshi\u2019s Cookie<\/a> and\u00a0F1 Pole Position<\/a> match photos and descriptions from the Vault verified by Kotaku.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d a former employee told Kotaku. \u201cGame Informer editorial treated the Vault like a library, not like a collection to be auctioned off.\u201d<\/p>\n

One item that sources were not able to verify, however, was the\u00a0Fallout 4\u00a0Vault Boy statue<\/a>, as it\u2019s entirely possible that GameStop stores may have had these statues on location. However, a similar statue appears in\u00a0MinnMax\u2018s goodbye tour of the\u00a0Game Informer office, and was sent to other outlets like\u00a0IGN<\/a> back when the game launched in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a9 eBay \/ Minnmax \/ Kotaku <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy Game Informer is out from under GameStop, but choices like these remind people of the brutal closure of the magazine in 2024,\u201d MinnMax founder and ex-Game Informer video producer Ben Hanson said in a statement to Kotaku. \u201cGame Informer\u2018s history belongs in a museum, not some schmuck\u2019s eBay listings. Show some love to the current Game Informer crew, subscribe to the physical magazine, and please try to ignore Ryan Cohen\u2019s pleas for attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

I have been suspended from eBay pic.twitter.com\/0vadYCQ6KE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ryan Cohen (@ryancohen) May 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At around 11:19 p.m. Eastern last night, Cohen posted on X that he had been suspended from eBay because the site had noted \u201cactivity that we believe was putting the eBay community at risk,\u201d though the support email doesn\u2019t get anymore specific than that.<\/p>\n

GameStop did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n