GameStop is back after being down for many — here's everything we know

Well, if you were looking for a Nintendo Switch 2, picking up V-Bucks ahead of the rumored The Office drop in Fortnite, or just wanted to shop around on GameStop this morning and couldn't get the site to load, you're not alone.

GameStop – the popular console, video game, and electronics store in the United States – is having some issues this AM. I can't get the site to load, and my colleagues can't either; reports on Down Detector are spiking.

Reports are currently trending upwards at 260 on Down Detector, which isn't the highest, but certainly shows that something is up. So to track GameStop's issues this AM, TechRadar Gaming is spinning up a live blog to cover one of the biggest game stores in the country.

2026-01-21T19:44:34.448Z

Our long national nightmare is over

Well, for the GameStop loyalists, I have some good news. GameStop is back on desktop and on mobile, and just as mysteriously as it went down, it's back with no other comments.

Let us know in the comments below if it's back for you.

2026-01-21T19:16:01.654Z

GameStop posts on X, but not about the site issues

Now, while plenty of folks have been posting on X and tagging a GameStop to ask what's going on, the retailer has all but ignored those so far.

Interestingly enough, whoever is running the @GameStop account has responded to an @AppleMusic post, quoting a 'Dark Souls III' track that appears on the loading screen for the game in response to the track you're listening to in 2016 prompt. Strange.

2026-01-21T18:46:39.914Z

One part of GameStop's website is still somewhat functional, though without any flair. The GameStop Investor page is still active with a mostly typeface front and links out to releases, reports, and SEC filings, among other tabs.

2026-01-21T18:22:24.979Z

We're now 2 hours in, and GameStop is still not loading, though Down Detector reports are now sitting at slightly over 150. Additionally, more frustrated folks are taking to social media platforms like X to talk about the site being down.

2026-01-21T17:49:36.553Z

One potential reason for GameStop's site being down is that several Reddit users reported the site was showing other customers' orders, including payment information and addresses. That's a huge liability, especially when a user is authenticated in and attempting to track orders, only to be presented with another user's information.

You can see that Reddit thread here, but it's quite possible that GameStop needed to take the site offline to fix that.

2026-01-21T17:41:19.553Z

While GameStop has yet to post on X from its official handle, we are seeing some other frustrated folks start to post about it. However, while the site is still not loading for many, reports on Down Detector are dropping.

Although not because it's recovering, but because not many folks are reporting.

2026-01-21T17:12:09.274Z

The screen we're currently seeing when trying to load GameStop isn't super uncommon: if you're spamming a website repeatedly, you could get flagged and see the 'You've been blocked' notice.

It appears to be a bit more common today and follows previously reported issues accessing GameStop. This Reddit thread here is from earlier today. GameStop's website issues come after the company has confirmed it is closing down over 400 stores across the United States.

2026-01-21T17:09:39.788Z

Interestingly enough, we've spotted a Reddit thread from a year ago that shows a screen grab of a similar issue, in fact, one that's nearly identical to what folks are seeing today.

The difference is that this is from a year ago, and it doesn't seem as widespread as the one affecting folks currently.

2026-01-21T16:45:05.193Z

Here's a look at Down Detector right now – as of 11:10 AM, the most recent update on the site that tracks outages based on your reports, is currently trending upwards at 304 reports. We're keeping an eye on GameStop's X (formerly Twitter) account to see if the retailer posts any updates as well.

2026-01-21T16:33:33.352Z

While that screengrab is from a laptop connected to Wi-Fi, I also tried loading GameStop.com on my iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is connected to Visible's 5G network. I'm seeing the same error, which says that I've been blocked from accessing the site.

It's certainly a weird one, but it is providing a 'Cloudflare Ray ID' for every request. This does not mean it's an issue with CloudFlare; we just know there's some sort of communication issue occurring when trying to access GameStop.

2026-01-21T16:25:48.147Z

Rather than the homepage or a 503 error, we're seeing a "Sorry you have been blocked" screen when trying to access GameStop.