Talk about a case of reverse robbery.

In what one might call an "upside down" version of the crime, a group of recent thieves robbed a GameStop store and stole a large number of PlayStation 5 consoles. One would think that the manager would be more heavily involved in this robbery in its aftermath, but instead, GameStop fired their store manager for not doing enough to prevent it from happening. Worse yet, the store manager wasn't even on shift when it happened.

GameStop reportedly fired the manager of its Easton, Pennsylvania store, who had been employed there for 13 years, after $5,000 worth of PS5 consoles were stolen from the location. Although the manager was not present on duty during the robbery which was perpetrated by two men who intimidated a single staff member into submission, GameStop chose to terminate him for undisclosed reasons, rather than take legal actions against the suspects.

The robbers reportedly posed as customers, asking to buy a PS5 at the store. Following the employee into the storage room where the consoles were kept, they then threatened him. One of them unloaded a bunch of consoles while his accomplice watched over the employee, before locking him in a storage room according to police reports. Surveillance camera footage captured the incident and has made its way onto the web.

Former GameStop employees, however, have speculated that the firing may be related to regulations that were broken during the robbery, as the thieves had failed to check out the consoles at the register. Another issue is that the employee allowed the suspects into the backroom, where it was clearly labeled 'Employee's Only'. If this was an inside job, then the termination was justified. On this matter, however, GameStop declined to comment when approached with this specific question.

Ex-employees allege that cost-cutting efforts by GameStop corporate, including having only one person present during a shift, made the robbery easier to perpetrate.

GameStop has continually laid off employees, closed stores, and reported lackluster quarterly sales numbers as it works to adjust to an era where video games increasingly are sold digitally.