Gamers across the country are reacting with a wave of nostalgia and excitement online, after an ownership change is rebranding GameStop to a familiar name: EB Games.
The popular video game retailer has been acquired by Stephan Tetrault, a French-Canadian entrepreneur known for his work in the toy industry.
The entrepreneur is the founder of Montreal-based Imports Dragon, co-owner of McFarlane Toys, and a recent partner of Canadian toy chain Mastermind Toys.
With the purchase, GameStop Canada, officially known as Electronics Boutique Canada Inc., will now rebrand its 185 locations as EB Games Canada.
In February, the U.S. parent company, GameStop Corp., had announced plans to sell its Canadian and French operations as part of a broader strategy to cut costs.
In 2005, American computer and video games retailer, EB Games was acquired by GameStop in a $1.44 billion merger agreement.
The Canadian stores continued operating under the EB Games banner until 2021, when they were officially rebranded as GameStop.
In the past few years, GameStop has seen a drastic drop in its share prices, following a Wall Street trend of risky bets. Last year, the company oversaw a 27 per cent drop in sales, with a net income of $131.3 million.
Now, in a full-circle moment, the brand is returning to its roots — following the May 2025 acquisition by Tetrault, the stores are being rebranded once again as EB Games Canada.
Online, many Canadians received the rebranding news with excitement, with many recalling the brand’s EB Games era.
“We’ve just gone full circle from EB Games to GameStop back to EB Games. At least they’re Canadian again,” a user on Reddit said.
“Finally time for me to go back to supporting them,” another user said.
“LETS GOOOOO!!!!!! I grew up with EB Games so I am thrilled to see this,” a different user commented.
“Man. My OG games store was EB Games. This is nostalgia at its finest,” another user noted.
“He has the opportunity to revive a brand. Focus the stores on the games. On the physical copies, on demos, community events, on having gaming lounges where [people] with Switches, steam decks and rog allies can sit and connect. Order more limited run games, build on Canadian pride,” a user suggested.
