GameStop pulled, discarded free OnLive Deus Ex: Human Revolution coupons

[PrivatePixel]

This is rather unsettling and unscrupulous. Apparently, a letter was sent out to all GameStop locations requiring store management to open all factory-sealed PC copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, then remove the free OnLive coupon before they're sold to consumers as "new". Reason? The OnLive service is in direct competition to a streaming service that GameStop purchased in April of this year. When confronted about the subject, a GameStop PR representative, Beth Sharum, confirmed the intentional removal of OnLive coupons:

"Square Enix packed the competitor's coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull and discard these coupons."

A photo of the memo that was presumably sent to each GameStop:



The full story can be read at Gamespy (link).

[doctorD]

Wow, that is crazy. Glad I bought mine from Best Buy.

[SleeperAgent]

Just another reason to never purchase anything from gamestop.

[K i r a]

I buy all my PC games now on Steam. I wait a few weeks on some titles, they drop half price, ie Duke Nukem Forever. Of course, I do that now since I learned from an impulse buy of DN:F and found out it was terrible, only to see it half off within a few weeks on Steam Summer Camp sale.

I love physical copies, but will be very picky of which I get, and probably shop elsewhere if they continue to do this.

[The Theory]

Gamestop has never had respect for the cellophane. I wish I had a dollar for every "new" game I bought that they had opened (and, let's be honest, probably some employee took home to play).

That they're doing it in this case to try and stifle a competing service just makes it that much more morally irksome.

Thank God I've got some good independent video game stores 'round here.

[PrivatePixel]

Update (from K O T A K U):

According to an internal email that has since been verified with retail locations, anyone that purchased a copy of the regular PC edition of Deus Ex: Human Revolution from GameStop is entitled to a $50 gift card, as well as an offer to buy two used games and get one free. Customers that purchased the game via the online store are included, and both they and members of the retailers Power Up Rewards card program will be notified via e-mail of the offer.

Here is the e-mail that was sent out to Gamestop customers who purchased the PC version:

Dear GameStop customer,

Earlier this week, GameStop removed a competitor's coupon from standard edition PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a recent release by Square Enix. We were not aware that the product box would contain this competitor's offer. 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. And for this, we are truly sorry.

For your inconvenience, we would like to offer you a free $50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase. We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience. Please bring in this email and your store receipt or order confirmation from GameStop.com and present it to a Game Advisor.

Sincerely,
Paul Raines
CEO, GameStop

[K i r a]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Update (from K O T A K U):

According to an internal email that has since been verified with retail locations, anyone that purchased a copy of the regular PC edition of Deus Ex: Human Revolution from GameStop is entitled to a $50 gift card, as well as an offer to buy two used games and get one free. Customers that purchased the game via the online store are included, and both they and members of the retailers Power Up Rewards card program will be notified via e-mail of the offer.

Here is the e-mail that was sent out to Gamestop customers who purchased the PC version:

Hmm... does this still apply to people who buy it in the future for PC? If the retail key can be activated on Steam, I would bite on this offer.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by veritas

Hmm... does this still apply to people who buy it in the future for PC? If the retail key can be activated on Steam, I would bite on this offer.

No idea (I'm thinking unlikely ), but if someone's after the OnLive coupon, I would just skip Gamestop altogether and purchase the PC version anywhere else.

[Hayabusa85]

Man why didn't I buy it when it came out Get a free game basically just because they removed a piece of paper for some service nobody is going to care about anyway if they are buying a PC game like this since OnLive isn't really meant for people that already have a gaming PC. Then again this probably would have been US only or something anyway and not apply to Canada

[Scorch]

The Field Operations Manager that made this call was fired.

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by Scorch

The Field Operations Manager that made this call was fired.

Source?

[Wingman1977]

Originally Posted by Scorch

The Field Operations Manager that made this call was fired.

You expect me to believe you? You know you're lying.