Five weeks of gaming stories and amazing prizes show the power of video games

GRAPEVINE, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2015-- GameStop, a family of specialty retail brands that makes the most popular technologies affordable and simple, has announced the winners in its #SummerAtGameStop: a five-week social engagement and contest series aimed at gamers sharing their personal stories on how video gaming brings fans together to create unique friendships and lifelong relationships - and brought longtime friends together from across the country in the process. The program encompassed five themed weeks: Never Met, Romance, Reunited, Game Night, and Rematch and asked gamers to share their favorite gaming story related to the theme of each week for a chance to win epic gaming experiences and gear.

Winning entries include:

• Albert who shared his Never Met story about his pal Matt. His entry won the long-distance friends each a round-trip flight plus $2,000 in cash and GameStop gift cards. Albert plans on taking a cross country trip to finally meet Matt in person.
• Andrea who started a Romance while gaming on Xbox Live and has now has been married to her partner for two years. The pair won a weekend getaway plus $1,000 in GameStop gift cards.
• Matt who said he’d like to be Reunited with childhood friends and face off once again on NHL ’94. Matt won top of the line gaming gear for the occasion.
• Jeff who told us about his epic Game Nights: all night gaming and junk food binges with his brother and buddies. He won a flat screen television and a $2,500 GameStop gift card to help he and his crew take their next game night up a notch!
• And Alex who declared his brother as his nemesis with whom he’d want a Rematch -- from 1200 miles away. Alex won a $500 GameStop gift card to set his plan in motion.

“The response from the gaming community was staggering,” said Frank Hamlin, chief marketing officer at GameStop. “We collected thousands of incredible, heart-touching examples of the power that video games possess to turn strangers into best friends, to keep families and friends connected across the globe and to help all gamers create lasting memories and relationships.”

In the course of the five-week series, GameStop came across one story that stood out above the rest. It’s the tale of a few sailors and a ship of hundreds united in one gaming purpose: to play Halo.

Countless hours of Halo tournaments took place on the USS Shoup. The tournaments grew so large that the captain approved the installation of a LAN throughout the ship so that multiple game play stations could be created. He even set aside one day where everyone took a timeout from normal operations to have a large Halo tournament.

Fast forward 10 years, our Halo heroes each have families of their own and have spent hours sharing their video game memories with their family, hoping that one day they can play together once more.

GameStop made that happen. Watch the video here.

"At its core, the #SummerAtGameStop program was about the special connections that gaming can make in our lives,” said Hamlin. “The story of our ‘Halo Heroes’ is essentially about a modern-day band of brothers whose love of gaming brought them even closer. It shows just how much gaming has become a part of our social fabric – initiating a form of casual competition and team building that forges friendships. We’re happy to have had the privilege to reconnect these friends and give them the chance to play another round of Halo together.”

About GameStop

GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, is a global, multichannel video game, consumer electronics and wireless services retailer. GameStop operates more than 6,600 stores across 14 countries. The company’s consumer product network also includes www.gamestop.com; www.Kongregate.com, a leading browser-based game site; and Game Informer® magazine, the world’s leading print and digital video game publication. In addition, our Technology Brands segment includes our Simply Mac and Spring Mobile businesses. Simply Mac, www.simplymac.com, operates 71 stores, selling the full line of Apple products, including laptops, tablets, and smartphones and offering Apple certified warranty and repair services. Spring Mobile, http://springmobile.com, sells post-paid AT&T services and wireless products through its 410 AT&T branded stores and offers pre-paid wireless services, devices and related accessories through its 68 Cricket branded stores in select markets throughout the United States.

General information about GameStop Corp. can be obtained at the company's corporate website. Follow GameStop on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/GameStop and find GameStop on Facebook @ www.facebook.com/GameStop.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150814005455/en/

Source: GameStop Corp.

Jackie Smith
GameStop – Public Relations
817-722-7520
jackiesmith@gamestop.com