General Game News

[Compound]

Whoo-boy.

GameStop opens Deus Ex boxes, discards free online game coupon

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Video game retailer GameStop is under fire for opening boxes of the just-released PC game Deus Ex: Human Revolution and removing a coupon from the publisher that would have given buyers a free copy of the game's online version.

Square Enix, which publishes DXHR (as the fans call it), announced the launch promotion on Tuesday. The coupon code was meant to give all buyers free access to the game on OnLive, a Web-based platform that enables gameplay on TVs, computers and, soon, on tablets. OnLive's cloud-based version of the game is priced at $49.99, the same price as a physical copy.

But on Wednesday, the blog GameSpy posted a story saying it had received complaints from consumers claiming their new DXHR boxes were opened and the OnLive codes were missing.

The article also included a photo of an e-mail sent by GameStop management instructing employees to "immediately remove and discard" the coupon. GameStop -- which also sells its own digital version of DXHR -- views OnLive as a rival.

GameStop (GME, Fortune 500) spokesman Matt Hodges confirmed the coupon-clipping to CNNMoney.

"Square Enix packed a competitor's coupon within the PC version of the game without our knowledge or consent and therefore we did pull these coupons," Hodges said in an e-mail. "GameStop's policy is that we do not promote competitive services without a formal partnership."

Square Enix declined to comment.

After the news broke, message board commenters on an OnLive fan site began speculating about the legality of breaking a game box's seal and selling it as new.

"The big issue here is that if GS is allowed to get away with this, what's to stop other retailers from doing the same thing[?]" wrote commenter Punkduck2064. "What if Amazon and Walmart removed the digital copy codes from the DVDs [they sold] simply because their competitors were the ones providing the digital copy."

GameStop initially stood by its approach, saying in a prepared statement that while game boxes "may have been opened to remove the coupon, we fully guarantee the condition of the disc to be new."

But late Thursday, company spokesman Hodges said GameStop had changed its policy after talking with Square Enix.

Now, GameStop says it will not sell the opened DXHR packages -- in fact, it won't sell any physical copies of the game at all until Square Enix ships GameStop a version without the OnLive coupon. GameSpot will continue to sell its own digital version of the game in its stores and online.

Yeah, this will end well.

[Doctor Who?]

This is why I don't use Gamestop any more. Since the merger they have had no competition so they treat their costumers like dirt. I order off of amazon where if the service is bad I can at least give the seller a bad review.

[Sideswipe]

I'd be furious if some one tried to pass off an open copy of a game as new.  That is fucked up!

[Doctor Who?]

You think that's bad two years ago my brother picked up five Xbox games on sale there and when he got home three of the sealed cases were empty and they refused to give him his money back on give him copies of the games.

A few months after that I bought a copy of the PC version of Battle for Middle Earth 2 from a different gamestop store and when I got home disc one was missing I went back to the store because they told me they would give me a new copy of the game,when I got there(after driving 40 minutes)they refused to give me a copy or my money back.

I have not spent a dime at Gamestop since.

[Compound]

I'd be furious if some one tried to pass off an open copy of a game as new.  That is fucked up!

That part isn't new. GS has done that for years. If you go in and buy a copy of, say, Madden, that they've got a gazillion copies of, you'll likely get a sealed copy. But if you see something marked "New" on the shelf, chances are pretty good that it's a gutted copy and the stuff that's supposed to be inside and sealed is actually in those bins behind the counter. It drives a lot of folks nuts (myself included) and it's one of the reasons why I don't buy new from the B&M side of GS unless it's a last choice.

But the new part is the "opening it and then tossing out parts of the package." That's a new one and not a good precedent.

[Scribblesense]

I'm not buying from Gamestop anymore. I wouldn't be surprised if video game companies stopped dealing with Gamestop altogether, either. That would be the logical next step if they're seriously pissed about this behavior.

[Doctor Who?]

I'd be furious if some one tried to pass off an open copy of a game as new.  That is fucked up!

That part isn't new. GS has done that for years. If you go in and buy a copy of, say, Madden, that they've got a gazillion copies of, you'll likely get a sealed copy. But if you see something marked "New" on the shelf, chances are pretty good that it's a gutted copy and the stuff that's supposed to be inside and sealed is actually in those bins behind the counter. It drives a lot of folks nuts (myself included) and it's one of the reasons why I don't buy new from the B&M side of GS unless it's a last choice.

But the new part is the "opening it and then tossing out parts of the package." That's a new one and not a good precedent.

Isn't it fraud if the box says the code is inside and Gamestop sells it to you with out telling you they removed the code?  If it is then the people who bought this game may have grounds for a class action suit against gamestop.

[Rainbow Dash]

Tried to make a new thread for this Deus Ex thing, seems important enough to warrant it's own thread, if for nothing else but to get the word out.  But it's marked as spam till a mod approves it...  Might have put in too many source links.

Anyways, SE has made an official response and it's pretty classy.

http://worthplaying.com/article/2011/8/24/news/83002/

    "As part of Deus Ex: Human Revolution's boxed offering on PC, Square Enix included a third party coupon. GameStop was not made aware of this inclusion and Square Enix respects the right of GameStop to have final say over the contents of products it sells and to adjust them where they see fit in accordance with their policies.

    Square Enix invites gamers who want to purchase the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution without additional coupons to buy the game at any one of over 4000 GameStop stores in North America or purchase a digital download copy online from www.gamestop.com."

Subtle digs are best digs.

[Scribblesense]

Does Gamestop have naked pictures of every CEO in the industry? Or do they just sacrifice the defiled bodies of a dozen black goats to their dark god whenever they want to pull bullcrap like this and get away with it?

Is Gamestop really this big and powerful to be able to bully publishers around?

To be absolutely fair, selling your competitor's merchandise for them isn't an attractive option to any retailer, but buying a product a retailer has tampered with and removed the contents from isn't an attractive option for the consumer. The fact that Gamestop didn't seem to negotiate with Square Enix on this and instead took matters into their own hands without informing the customer about their actions and policies says to me that they simply don't respect their customers, and wanted to get as much money out of the customer's pocket before they realized what had happened. I think I would have been less disgusted if Gamestop managers were instructed to open up every case of DXHR and spit inside before sealing it up again, and I would have been less shocked if Gamestop managers were instructed to hire a team of street children to steal wallets from customers walking in and out of Gamestop. Because those would have made Gamestop's mission statement much clearer: "Fuck you and give us your money."

This has got me pretty upset. Not "Let's start a Simpsons-esque riot and burn down a Gamestop" upset, more "Mumbling under my breath and sighing" upset.

This is a completely unethical business practice and should not be tolerated by the consumer or the publishers who sell their merchandise through Gamestop's stores.

[Compound]

Is Gamestop really this big and powerful to be able to bully publishers around?

Yes. Yes they are.

Remember Squeenix's little note? 4000 stores in the US. (There are 8 or 9 within a half hour of me.) For a reference- Bestbuy? 1100 stores in North America. Target? 1700 stores.  Gamestop's the second biggest game seller in the US. (#1 is still Walmart. )

Granted, a lot of places are aimed at taking a chunk of GS's money. Best Buy's trying to start trading and selling used games, as are some Toys R Us and Hastings does the same in the markets it operates in. (Including here in Denver now.) And K-Mart, of all places, has been aggressively trying to grab a bigger chunk of the new game market this year. Plus there are a number of mom and pop video game places too. But yeah, they're an 800 pound gorilla. Squeenix may be seething at this, but there's not much they can do at the moment.

[Doctor Who?]

Is Gamestop really this big and powerful to be able to bully publishers around?

Yes. Yes they are.

Remember Squeenix's little note? 4000 stores in the US. (There are 8 or 9 within a half hour of me.) For a reference- Bestbuy? 1100 stores in North America. Target? 1700 stores.  Gamestop's the second biggest game seller in the US. (#1 is still Walmart. )

Granted, a lot of places are aimed at taking a chunk of GS's money. Best Buy's trying to start trading and selling used games, as are some Toys R Us and Hastings does the same in the markets it operates in. (Including here in Denver now.) And K-Mart, of all places, has been aggressively trying to grab a bigger chunk of the new game market this year. Plus there are a number of mom and pop video game places too. But yeah, they're an 800 pound gorilla. Squeenix may be seething at this, but there's not much they can do at the moment.

Am I the only one who thinks GameStop's used games are ripp off?  First they give the person who brought in the game $5-$10 in store credit then they sell the used games for only $5 less then the new version.  Amazon has  better selection of games in their market place and the games are a lot cheaper so I don't see the point of Gamestop.

[Pak-Man]

That's their bread and butter. They don't even care about selling the new stuff that much. They want to buy and sell the used stuff for pretty much infinite profit. That's why the digital revolution has them running scared. You can't trade in a digital game.

[Doctor Who?]

Well the sooner gamestop goes away the better if you ask me.  Why should Square need to ask permission of gamestop to include a coupon for a game that Square made?

[Compound]

That's their bread and butter. They don't even care about selling the new stuff that much. They want to buy and sell the used stuff for pretty much infinite profit. That's why the digital revolution has them running scared. You can't trade in a digital game.

Yeah, they make roughly half their money from used games, if I remember correctly.

[Bob]

Another reason why i love Amazon.com......