Speaking on the forecast cuts, GameStop chief executive officer Daniel DeMatteo said, "GameStop had a strong quarter. Sales have been very robust over the last several weeks, driven by strong new title releases such as Activision's Call of Duty: World at War and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and Microsoft's Gears of War 2." Later, he added that the company "continues to expect a solid fourth quarter in sales and earnings, albeit tempered slightly by the weakness in consumer spending."
But according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, that weakness may continue for at least another seven more months, with the Federal Reserve predicting that the recession could last until mid-2009 or later. If that happens, expect even more modest forecasts to be made by the specialty retailer for the next financial year.