Gamestop refuses to sell Deus Ex due to OnLive coupons shipped with it

[MyNameDidntFit]

Anyone who cares at all about PC gaming, or gaming in general, knows that the battle between retail and digital stores has been ramping up in recent years and retail is losing out oh so heavily, but this is a step in the ridiculous direction by trusty old Gamestop:

Square Enix packaged PC versions of the recently released Deus Ex: Human Revolution with a coupon ticket allowing customers to play the game free on cloud gaming service OnLive. Yesterday (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/report-gamestop-opening-deus-ex-copies-removing-free-game-code.ars), Gamestop were not content to sell games that came with a competitor's coupon and a leaked memo detailed orders to employees to open cases of the title and remove the coupon. Now (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/24/gamestop-pulls-deus-ex-human-revolution-pc-versions-from-shelve/), stepping up from that mark, Gamestop has outright refused to sell the title--moving any copies to backrooms in preparation for them to be shipped back to Square Enix.

Ouch.

Square Enix have made a decidedly apologetic statement that seems to be really, really trying to make up with Gamestop:
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

While this is what I'd call a rather drastic overreaction on Gamestop's part, you can understand their unwillingness to sell a product packaged with an OnLive coupon, given their recent acquisition of Spawn Labs, a cloud gaming service of their own.

As Square seem to be perfectly sanguine on the issue, it doesn't seem like there will be any serious repercussions to this other than a loss of face for Gamestop.

Thoughts? Opinions?




Sources: Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/report-gamestop-opening-deus-ex-copies-removing-free-game-code.ars), Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/24/gamestop-pulls-deus-ex-human-revolution-pc-versions-from-shelve/), PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/08/25/deus-ex-human-revolution-pulled-from-gamestop-shelves-over-onlive-codes/)

[happysister]

i totally understand GameStop's feelings about the coupons, but having employees open up every single package just to remove them? eh.....uh.....yeah....no.

[Jason]

I... Er. So Gamestop don't want OnLive hurting their sales. Makes sense. However, the bit where they're going to help their sales by not selling one of the biggest games of the year? That's where the plan lost me. :-\

That's the kind of idiotic decision-making I expect from governments... I thought private sector employees were supposed to be a little more... Savvy?

[Kozahk]

People still buy PC games from Gamespot?!?

[happysister]

People still buy PC games from GameStop?!?

fixed.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Gamestop have jumped into an apology offer, emailing all customers who bought Deus Ex with a $50 Gamestop gift card and a 'buy 2 get 1 free' pre-owned offer.

Whether it's enough to smother to hate that is rolling around the internet... well, I doubt it. Gamers love to hate.


Via Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/08/gamestop-apologies-to-deus-ex-buyers-offers-50-gift-cards.ars)

[DMZ]

People still buy PC games from Gamespot?!?

Yes did you know they own a Digital Distribution Site like Steam now. Its called Impulse, and thats 1 reason they dont sell much games in shop, and most pc gamers buy online any how.

Steam is the best, there just not as bad as the rest...........

[Jerker1015]

Wait, I don't get it. So Gamestop, after taking your $60 for the game Deus Ex, doesn't want you to also be able to play that same game that you just bought from them through another device (onlive)? Shoundn't Onlive be the ones who are upset? They see no profit from the $60 yet still allow you to play the game on their servers.
Why does Gamestop care? They already sold you a copy. Unless I read this wrong, this is beyond moronic

[MyNameDidntFit]

I'll TL;DR the thread for you:

1) Gamestop are unhappy as it's pointing all their customers to a rival service (as Gamestop own Spawn Labs, a yet-to-be-up streaming service of their own).

2) OnLive made the deal to have the coupons put in there with Square as a promotional campaign, so they have no reason to be unhappy.

[Konrad]

Having sold a single copy of the game to you isn't where it ends for GameStop. They want you to come back and buy another one, they want to secure you as a customer. But what if Deus Ex is the deciding factor in trying out OnLive, and you come to prefer it? You will never give GameStop your money again. Better you're not unnecessarily exposed to competition.

It's just foresight 101 really.