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GameStop Opening Deus Ex Boxes, Removing Free Game Coupon

Posted by samzenpus on from the you-won't-need-that dept.

DisKurzion writes "A leaked GameStop memo indicates that employees are to open the regular PC release of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and discard the included OnLive coupon. From the article: 'GameStop spokesperson Beth Sharum confirmed the practice, telling Ars that "Square Enix packed the competitor's coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull these coupons.'"

7 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. You've got to be kidding... by RogueyWon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So... let me get this right.

    If you're competing against a fast-growing distribution method that has the potential to completely under-cut your own business model, the best way to do that is to... engage in behaviour that will really piss a good portion of your customers off?

    It's not actually the removal of the coupons that bugs me - it's the opening of the game boxes. I know that some retailers do this a lot - fortunately, it's rarer here in the UK than it is in the US. But I really don't like it - I've certainly bought "new" DS games in the past in the US that had saves already on the cartridge (presumably a staff member's).

    It's not as if they're just competing against download distribution. I've never bought a game from Amazon or play.com that had been opened before it arrived (well, aside from the time our local post-office staff decided that stealing was fun, but that's another story) - and those are almost always cheaper. Seriously, do these bricks and mortar retailers even want to stay in business?

    Actually, IANAL, but is there a legal issue here? If there's a reasonable expectation that every copy of the game includes this coupon and Gamestop are removing it, are they committing fraud or theft or something? Either from the consumer or from Square-Enix? I mean, surely Square-Enix must have a civil case here - and it's almost at the kind of level where it starts to sound criminal (if it happened in the UK at least).

    1. Re:You've got to be kidding... by RogueyWon · · Score: 5, Informative

      I suppose it depends on whether the coupon is advertised anywhere. If it's advertised as being included with the game - and especially if there's a marking on the game box itself saying "coupon inside" - then there are all kinds of trading standards laws that would be getting broken in the UK. I've no idea whether there are US equivalents.

      If the coupon isn't advertised anywhere, then it may be murkier.

    2. Re:You've got to be kidding... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They are selling used games as if they were new. If they consider a game to be used after the customer has opened it, then the customer should do the same.

  2. So, Gamestop has agreed to EULA? by tekrat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cool. I can violate every provision of the EULA, and it's GameStop that has to agree to the terms.

    I wonder if that'll hold up in a court of law?

    --
    If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
  3. Cereal box by Palshife · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This would be like my grocery store opening my cereal box to get the toy out so that I'm more likely to buy toys from the store.

    Fucked. Up.

    --
    Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
  4. Wow by daemonc · · Score: 5, Funny

    What a bunch of deusbags.

    --
    All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
  5. The legal ramifications, in a different article by Hahnsoo · · Score: 5, Informative

    The Wired article on this does a more balanced job at handling the legal ramifications:
    http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/08/gamestop-onlive/

    Basically, Gamestop may be in the right, legally, if Square-Enix has a pre-existing contract with them with a non-compete clause. As the article states: “Existing contracts between GameStop and Square may have barred this kind of promotion, and so GameStop may actually be justified in their action if Square is in breach of some promotion/marketing agreement”

    But they can also be in legal trouble over this, as the article also points out, for a number of different reasons.

    Nowhere on the packaging does it say "Free OnLive coupon", apparently. I haven't looked at the packaging myself.