A GameStop store is photographed in Austin, TX, U.S., March 26, 2018. Picture taken on March 26, 2018. REUTERS/Mohammad Khursheed

(Reuters) - GameStop Corp, the world’s largest video game and gaming console retailer, said it had abandoned efforts to sell itself after failing to get a potential buyer on favorable terms, sending shares down 21 percent in early trading.

The company said it had held discussions with other firms, but did not get financing on terms that would be commercially acceptable to a prospective acquirer.

Shares of the company surged 16 percent in September, when media reports said GameStop hired Perella Weinburg to explore a sale.

Like most brick-and-mortar retailers, GameStop has suffered from heightened competition from online companies such as Amazon.com Inc. Game retailers have also had to cope with a decline in physical video game sales, although GameStop has partly weathered these declines by expanding into used video games and devices as well as digital products.

GameStop sold its Spring Mobile business to Prime Communications LP for $700 million in November.

The company’s board is still looking for a permanent chief executive officer, it said.

In May, CEO Michael Mauler stepped down from his post after only three months on the job, citing personal reasons. In June, the company brought on board former Microsoft Xbox executive and board director Shane Kim as interim CEO.