GameStop Removing OnLive Coupons Deus Ex: HR Boxes

[Rob Williams]

GameStop has come under fire for many things over the years, but the latest incident takes the cake. It's been known for some time that the company will open most games that are sold in order to keep the disc behind the counter, secured. But with the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, employees have been instructed to take out a little more than that.

Read the rest of our post and then discuss it here!

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

Wow way to go, idiots. It's gonna be allll over the interwebz. You just shot yourself in the foot....or the face.

 

[Rob Williams]

Wow way to go, idiots. It's gonna be allll over the interwebz. You just shot yourself in the foot....or the face.

Not to mention that this mimics the Streisand effect. OnLive is getting a LOT of "free " publicity over this (I say "free" because they are essentially losing out if these coupons are not given to customers).

What we need is either OnLive or Square Enix to explore legal options, because there's no way that this is right. It's interesting because a lot of games purchased at GameStop require Steam... that's just a problem the company can't work around.

 

[Tharic-Nar]

Removing an item that was originally packaged with the product, as well as factored into the original sale price, is known as Stealing these days. This being an anti-steam and anti-competitive action is just silly. Every time someone buys a console game, GameStop are selling a competitive service; Live, PSN, both are services to which gamers can purchase additional DLC and extras for the game, purchases that GameStop are 'losing' out on.

Retail stores also love to announce dwindling PC sales - well, have they looked at their own shelves; 95% of the store is console, that little bit tucked away in the corner is for PC, to which half is a 10 game chart.

Edit:
Supposedly, GameStop has decided to rectify the matter the only way they know how, but no longer selling Deus Ex: HR - at least until Square Enix releases a copy of the game without the On-Live code. More power to Amazon and the like then...

 

[JMMDTG]

I would put nothing past the people at GameStop. I can't even recall the last time I shopped there. I'm guessing it was back in the mid 90's. May not have even been GameStop was probably Electronic's Boutique back then.

 

[Kayden]

I have shopped at GameStop ever since they pulled all PC titles from their stores, except for new releases. They are also phasing out PS2 games, bunch money grabbing morons who are trying to only push their services to their customers. GameStop I think may want to contact intel about anti competitive behavior and ask what happened to them when they pulled that kind of crap.

 

[marfig]

I have no love for GameStop. But here... I dunno. There's more to it than what meets the eye.

The thing is that GameStop wasn't informed by Square Enix that those coupons where inside the boxes. They should have so they could have refused to receive them and ask instead for the games to be shipped to them without those coupons. Square Enix acknowledged this themselves.

What would be my reaction was I a GameStop top manager and saw those coupons that directly compete with a service of my own? I dunno... returning the whole shipment would be costly. I would be missing out on 3 or 4 days of selling a potentially high profile game, right when it usually sells the most. Financial loses like this can be upsetting. Phoning Square Enix and ordering the warehouses to remove the coupons could also have been my own answer to this. What I wouldn't know is that my email would be leaked.

I can agree that this is a dangerous precedent. As a customer I don't like one bit the thought that between the publisher (or maker) and the shelf, a box gets opened (whatever box, not just games). But this time I can't just look at it from the sidelines. I believe GameStop deserves some flak, no doubt. Just not the type of flak it has been getting.

And for pete's sake!... If you are going to do something like this, don't use email! If you don't have an internal communications mechanism like a... phone (I know it may sound so last century, but phones still exist and phone lines still operate), don't expose your company to this bad publicity. Get off your arse and put that chain of command to work. Gosh, I don't expect private businesses to be like the military. But I don't expect them to be this dumb either, after the tons of leaked emails in the past 3 decades.

 

[RainMotorsports]

Dont know if anyone saw any of this posting

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...r_Human_Revolution_OnLive_Voucher_Removal.php

In the wake of controversy surrounding the removal of a free OnLive voucher from boxed PC copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, GameStop is offering affected customers a $50 store gift card and a coupon for a free used game with the purchase of two others.

"We regret the events surrounding this title release and that our customers were put in the middle of this issue between GameStop and Square Enix, the publisher of this game," GameStop said in an e-mail message to customers (as reported by Joystiq).

"And for this, we are truly sorry," the company added.

GameStop admitted to ordering the removal earlier this week, saying the coupon for a free OnLive copy of Human Revolution was included in the boxes without the retailer's knowledge.

"We pulled the coupons because, like all retailers, we prefer not to promote our competitors and their competing offerings and services in our stores," the company said in an earlier statement.

While GameStop doesn't yet offer a streaming game service that competes directly with OnLive, it did purchase streaming technology company Spawn Labs earlier this year, and has mentioned plans to stream content from PC and console games, to platforms including Android and Linux.

GameStop does currently offer a downloadable edition of Deus Ex: Human Revolution through the Impulse digital download service, which it recently acquired from Stardock.

Square Enix America said earlier this week it "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."

Hadnt seen anything myself suprised to see Square was basically cool with it for now lol.

 

[TheCrimsonStar]

OMFG I SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT ONE. No $50 gift card for me.... D:

 

[Kougar]

I have no love for GameStop. But here... I dunno. There's more to it than what meets the eye.

The thing is that GameStop wasn't informed by Square Enix that those coupons where inside the boxes. They should have so they could have refused to receive them and ask instead for the games to be shipped to them without those coupons. Square Enix acknowledged this themselves.

I think that is silly. Once they discovered it they could have sent them back, which is exactly what they did anyway. If they had enough time to get employees to open every single box, then re-seal it in plastic wrap then they had enough time to change their mind and just send the entire lot back to Square Enix before they got put on the shelf.

What would be my reaction was I a GameStop top manager and saw those coupons that directly compete with a service of my own?

That's just it... the consumer still has to buy the physical game to get the code. So removing the codes from the physical games in their stores serves zero purpose and saves them zero money.

Online distribution is a growing business model and if Gamestop hasn't had the foresight to seek alternatives to it years ago, making stupid choices today isn't going to stop it or save their outdated business model.


Frankly after Gamestop got caught repackaging used games and selling them as new I made a point to never buy a thing from them again. Not that I've shopped at one in 5+ years, which was about when they stopped catering to PC gamers.

 

[Rob Williams]

And for pete's sake!... If you are going to do something like this, don't use email! If you don't have an internal communications mechanism like a... phone (I know it may sound so last century, but phones still exist and phone lines still operate), don't expose your company to this bad publicity.

E-mail or not though, this information would have gotten out over time, and the backlash could have been even worse. OnLive posted on its blog before the launch that the coupons were meant to be in there, so after some time, thousands of gamers or more would have seen something a bit strange, and it would then come to the forefront. The leaked e-mail just accelerated things, heh.

Online distribution is a growing business model and if Gamestop hasn't had the foresight to seek alternatives to it years ago, making stupid choices today isn't going to stop it or save their outdated business model.

Agreed.

This all said, I am hoping that Futureshop or Walmart has Madden 2012 in stock tomorrow...

 

[Kougar]

Try Amazon, Rob! They will ship titles AHEAD of the launch date, so it arrives at your door the day of release.

 

[DarkStarr]

I like gamestop though <.< >.> (mainly since I can get free $50 Giftcards every few months lol) Anyways..... I dont get it, I mean wooo big deal just dont buy it from GS.... Then also how many people are going to actually use it unless their pc is not very good?

 

[marfig]

Anyways..... I dont get it, I mean wooo big deal just dont buy it from GS

I'm a little divided about this myself. But I think what is annoying most is the fact a product can be defiled by the retailer to the point of removing gift codes. Certainly this isn't about a love for OnLive specifically, or a hate for GameStop. I certainly can understand this; I'm not happy about that either.

But if that is the case, I'd like to see some flak going the way of Enix Square too, who publicly came in defense of GameStop and opened a dangerous precedent by legitimizing GameStop actions. I don't see much of Square Enix on this thread, though. They didn't remove the codes themselves, but they sure made it abundantly clear they agreed to GameStop doing it. Square Enix is the publisher, so you can see how dangerous these words can become.

I think that is silly. Once they discovered it they could have sent them back, which is exactly what they did anyway. If they had enough time to get employees to open every single box, then re-seal it in plastic wrap then they had enough time to change their mind and just send the entire lot back to Square Enix before they got put on the shelf.

I think you can agree they aren't the same thing and both will take different times. Returning the entire shipment would probably have removed any chance GameStop had of selling retail versions of the game during at least the first week after release. A critical period. I don't know however when exactly that shipment arrived and if it wasn't way before the release date, that much I concede. But neither you know if Square Enix didn't just tell them they didn't have enough immediate stock to replace that shipment (a common occurrence since retail versions production rates during the early release are highly dependent on worldwide retailer orders).

Overall I think that GameStop action is reprehensible. But I'm just not ready to condemn it so vehemently. What bothers me is how companies have distanced themselves so much from their customers that even incidents like this that could have be solved with a honest, forthright, and to the point press release, are instead met with complete silence. Having a small amount of experience in the retail market myself, I can think of a million reasons why GameStop could have been "forced" to do this, but the corporate culture that we have been creating is one of saying the least one can in as many words as possible. And its this protective silence (that does not protect anything) that I do condemn.

 

[Rob Williams]

But if that is the case, I'd like to see some flak going the way of Enix Square too, who publicly came in defense of GameStop and opened a dangerous precedent by legitimizing GameStop actions.

I couldn't agree more. It made me sick to see how Square Enix handled this... it gives free reign to GameStop to do this sort of thing again, when it isn't right. I am fine with GS not wanting to include these coupons... that's fine. But to take them out and not mention it... that doesn't bode well with me.

I think you can agree they aren't the same thing and both will take different times. Returning the entire shipment would probably have removed any chance GameStop had of selling retail versions of the game during at least the first week after release. A critical period. I don't know however when exactly that shipment arrived and if it wasn't way before the release date, that much I concede. But neither you know if Square Enix didn't just tell them they didn't have enough immediate stock to replace that shipment (a common occurrence since retail versions production rates during the early release are highly dependent on worldwide retailer orders).

This is all true. But rather than contact Square Enix about this problem, GS took it upon itself to modify games in such a way that users wouldn't be receiving something that was publicly known about prior ot the game's release. I can side with GS in some regards here, but it did itself no favors in handling this situation the way it did.

 

[Kougar]

What bothers me is how companies have distanced themselves so much from their customers that even incidents like this that could have be solved with a honest, forthright, and to the point press release, are instead met with complete silence.

I absolutely agree with you 100% here. Often these days companies don't seem capable of maintaining genuine customer relations, honest consideration for their customers, or pretty much anything else. It first requires a public relations nightmare before a company will sit up, take notice, and attempt to rectify any given situation. Incidents like this are in the hundreds, almost one a day...

Having a small amount of experience in the retail market myself, I can think of a million reasons why GameStop could have been "forced" to do this, but the corporate culture that we have been creating is one of saying the least one can in as many words as possible. And its this protective silence (that does not protect anything) that I do condemn.

I still disagree here. If they were smart, they would have refused the shipment entirely the moment they found out regardless of cost to their sales. Because anyone with a little foresight would have seen the only alternative outcomes would have been worse... and in the very end, not only do they have a public relations disaster, more boycotts, and an even worse public image, but they still pulled the games from shelves and lost all sales.

Whatever sales they DID make were negated by the gift cards. So again, any exec with a bit of sense and a few minutes of careful thought would've known enough ahead of time to return the games and announce publicly why they were boycotting the game.

It may of been an unpleasant situation, but really selling the game as it was would not have hurt them. They weren't forced into any of it. Instead, they chose to do the absolute worst thing they could possibly have done.