Micromania Changes Ownership and Bets on Trading Cards

Paris – 18 July 2026: The French video game retail chain Micromania-Zing has been acquired by a Franco-Canadian consortium of four entrepreneurs. The company confirmed the transaction on 16 July. The buyers are Canadian entrepreneur Stephan Tétrault, Jean-François Chenail, and Sandra and Stephen Callahan. No purchase price was disclosed. The acquisition comes at a time of profound change in video game retail.

Under its new owners, Micromania intends above all to strengthen sales of fan merchandise and trading cards. The aim is to position the brand more broadly than before at the intersection of gaming, pop culture and toys. According to the buyers, in-store events are also part of the planned expansion. The strategy therefore places less emphasis on the traditional business of new boxed games and more on physical products with collectible value.

Stephan Tétrault is the majority shareholder of EB Games Canada, which emerged from GameStop’s Canadian business in 2025. Jean-François Chenail also has a stake in EB Games. Sandra and Stephen Callahan are behind Cobico International and the toy company Gipsy Toys. The composition of the consortium therefore brings together experience in game retail, licensed products, toys and collectible distribution.

For Micromania, the change of ownership is also a response to the structural decline in the physical media business. On 1 July, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that it would stop producing new games on disc for PlayStation consoles from January 2028. Previously released titles and games that are still released on disc by then are not affected by this announcement. New titles will subsequently be available only digitally.

The new owners plan a detailed review of the store network. Possible relocations, expansions of existing stores and new locations are under consideration. According to the consortium, a first particularly large flagship store is scheduled to open near Paris in October 2026. No specific store closures were announced when the acquisition was revealed.

Trading cards are also set to gain a stronger presence in shopping centres. The plan calls for the installation of relevant vending machines in around 30 centres. The project builds on EB Games Canada’s experience, where cards and licensed products have become significantly more important, according to Micromania’s new owners. Independent business figures on transferring this model to France are not yet available.

Micromania was founded in 1983 and had been part of the US group GameStop since 2008. At the beginning of 2025, GameStop announced that it wanted to divest its French operations. With the sale now completed, the store network will initially remain in place, but it will receive a new strategic direction. The key question will be whether physical stores can establish themselves in the long term as destinations for collectors, gaming fans and pop culture enthusiasts.