GameStop Wants to Snag Exclusive Gameplay as Preorder Bonuses

[Steven Bogos]

GameStop Wants to Snag Exclusive Gameplay as Preorder Bonuses

GameStop wants to get in with developers during a game's development stage, to secure exclusive gameplay for preorder customers.

Right now, preordering a game from a big-name retailer like GameStop usually comes with a few, purely cosmetic perks. Be it a physical item, or a couple of pieces of cosmetic in-game content (like skins and weapons), they are mostly incidental little bonuses. But soon, there may be entire sections of gameplay sanctioned off to those who don't preorder their games, as GameStop now wants to get involved with game developers earlier on in their development processes, in order to secure better and more substantial exclusives.

"[GameStop] indicated that software publishers are more enthusiastic about partnering with it," investment company R.W. Baird's analyst Colin Sebastian wrote in his note to investors. "For example, by offering exclusive content on each major game release, and longer term, future models may include GameStop offering exclusive gameplay."

"We are working with our [development] partners to build in a longer lead time," GameStop public-relations spokesperson Jackie Smith corroborated to Games Beat [http://www.businessinsider.com/gamestop-will-partner-with-software-publishers-2014-7]. "And we are working with them to get both physical and digital exclusives for our customers."

GameStop says that this strategy is still in the early stages, but it clearly wants to use the extensive knowledge it would gain of a game still in development to leverage better exclusives.

Its certainly not good news for gamers, that's for sure. The thought of being locked out of a substantial section of a game just because I didn't buy it from a specific retailer actually makes me feel a little ill.

Source: Games Beat [http://www.businessinsider.com/gamestop-will-partner-with-software-publishers-2014-7]

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[Scorpid]

Please not this. Oh what do I care I already don't buy games at launch. This is just more incentive from the braindead game industry to keep not buying.

 

[direkiller]

May some big AAA game try this and bomb, & bomb hard so this idea is never comes up again.
Preferably one of the EA/Activation gutted branches so only the dev name is lost.

 

[Frozengale]

Oh screw you GameStop.

I already rarely visit your establishments due to the fact that it's hard to tell if what I'm purchasing is a new, sealed game or a "new" re-sealed game. But this just pushes it over the edge. I'm not even gonna wait to see if this gets implemented, I'm just not ever going to go to a GameStop ever again. There are still Wal-Mart and Best Buy for new releases and a couple of Mom and Pop/Small Chain game stores where I live for Used Games. And if nothing else there is always Amazon. I'm so sick and tired of this BS. I'm done with GameStop pure and simple.

 

[Wandrecanada]

This kind of behaviour is why I stopped shopping through Gamestop and went exclusively to digital purchases. Holding content hostage to a retailer is just another thing that's wrong with videogame retail...

 

[WouldYouKindly]

So, as a PC gamer and considering the vast majority of Gamestops don't even carry PC games, I can expect to have shit cut out of my game for no fucking reason? And I probably won't have any way to get it unless the company offers it as DLC?

Fuck you Gamestop. Stick to cosmetic bullshit that I don't usually give a crap about.

 

[Ninmecu]

No, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

A thousand times NO. If this shit goes through I think I will give up my hobby as a whole and learn to live my life without new video games. Stick to the good old games before they had the idea that cash gated/exclusive content was a good thing. I'm so sick and tired of all the bullshit that the industry is trying to pull, Jim says it best, They seem to think we're all idiots and fools, the sad thing is the majority still speak with their wallets and go along with the poor practices.

I would be amazed if anyone was capable of it, but if you can prove to me in a concise manner that this is somehow a good idea. But please, feel free to change my mind on it.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

People are freaking out about this without a single thought.

Developers already do this with console exclusive gameplay, and it always ends up being some lame side mission that lasts about 10 minutes and doesn't do anything significant for the game.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO....NO.

Seriously, that is a TERRIBLE fucking idea. You don't let retailers get involved in game development. I understand pre-order DLC, like how Dark Souls II had that weapons pack that gave the player a bunch of unique weapons early in the game. Or how a lot of shooters have special skins, weapons, or a map or two reserved for specific retailers and then have the others on the various digital storefronts as DLC. I get that as game publishers and retailers must have a symbiotic relationship as they they benefit from each other. I get that stores can't just have a bunch of unsold copies lying around taking up shelf space when they have new stuff coming in and pre-orders are a good way to gauge how many they might need thus why DLC is a logical incentive.

There is no way in FUCK they should get involved in development like this. There's a line you don't cross and this is one of them. This sounds like an attempt for GS to further a monopoly on gaming. Which is funny because they've actually been on shaky ground for awhile if closing down stores is any sign.

People are freaking out about this without a single thought.

Developers already do this with console exclusive gameplay, and it always ends up being some lame side mission that lasts about 10 minutes and doesn't do anything significant for the game.

True, that does happen a lot. That's really the best you can do, considering that doing anything more than that would cause freaking riots.

 

[Ajarat]

So, as a PC gamer and considering the vast majority of Gamestops don't even carry PC games, I can expect to have shit cut out of my game for no fucking reason? And I probably won't have any way to get it unless the company offers it as DLC?

I was just thinking of the same thing. The EB Games (a subsidiary of Gamestop in Canada) PC section is smaller than the "Minecraft Toys" section, and half of the titles on the shelf are Used-games, which as we all know with modern DRM that used PC games are largely useless.
I'm wondering just how they intend to implement this in a meaningful way across all markets considering Gamestops current perception of the PC market. More importantly, I'm wondering how much this move will end up costing in bribes, er... kickbacks, or incentives, or whatever the "socially acceptable" term for Graft is nowadays.

Now I'm going to have to follow Gamestop for which titles they are doing these exclusives on so I can boycott those as well. No wonder it seems the PC-Game market is in decline, they're giving us fewer and fewer options of titles to buy with a clean conscience. Sorry Gamestop, will never trouble you again with my business. For even thinking you could do this, I will never buy ANYTHING from you. You're stores are now empty lots in my mind until they actually DO become empty lots. It's not like I don't have reasonable options, like GoG or Steam..

 

[gphjr14]

I rarely visit gamestop anymore I preordered Far Cry 4 but considering Walmart does preorders and they're open 24/7 I'm tempted to just cancel my preorder and go elsewhere.

Didn't their motto used to be "Power to the Players"?
I guess they're more worried about shareholders than actual gamers.

 

[Rad Party God]

I expect this evil shenanigan from big publishers like EA or Ubisoft, but locking entire sections to just one single retailer that only sells to a select few countries?...

That's just fucking wrong.

 

[Pyrian]

As usual, Bob Page said it best:

Of course they're desperate; they can smell their deaths, and the sound they'll make rattling their cages will serve as a warning to the rest.

Bad luck with that, GameStop.

 

[RicoADF]

I suspect they'd have to tread carefully as they'd be encroaching into anti competitive practices, I am partly hoping their stupid enough to try so both Gamestop and the publisher dumb enough to agree with get fined to the stone age for trying.

 

[Gennadios]

Why am I suddenly wishing this entire goddamn industry would collapse? I think I have more than enough Steam games to weather the apocalypse by now.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Ah, so I see Gamestop are copying the business practices of Foxtel. "If you can't beat em, prop up your stone-age business model with exclusivity deals."

 

[Johnson McGee]

Bring it on Gamestop, I've got such a Steam library backlog I don't need to buy a new game until 2020. Of course, I'm assuming that these are timed exclusives because a publisher would have to be both evil and stupid to agree to a permanent exclusivity deal (and I don't buy EA or Ubisoft games anymore).

 

[Brian Tams]

I'm already in a bad mood today, and then I noticed this shit.

Angry Rant incoming (I was screaming it in my head, so there will be copious capslock)

Spoiler

THERE IS NO GODDAMN EXCUSE FOR THIRD PARTY GAMES TO HAVE CONSOLE EXCLUSIVE CONTENT. ABSOLUTELY FUCKING NONE. ITS WORSE THAN DISC LOCKED CONTENT. ALL THIS IS DOING IS PUNISHING GAMERS FOR CHOOSING ONE CONSOLE OVER THE OTHER WHICH, NEED I REMIND YOU, MOST PEOPLE AT THIS POINT ARE ONLY GOING TO HAVE ONE OF THE TWO. LIKE, FUCK! DOES NOBODY GIVE A SHIT ABOUT THEIR CUSTOMERS ANYMORE? NO ONE?

AND I'M NOT JUST GOING TO ***** AT GAMESTOP ABOUT THIS GARBAGE. NO SIR. THE FUCKING PUBLISHERS ARE JUST AS MUCH TO BLAME FOR THIS GARBAGE, AS WELL AS SONY AND MICROSOFT FOR GETTING THE MOTHER-FUCKING TRAIN ROLLING BY BRIBING PUBLISHERS TO DO THIS. THIS IS OUT OF CONTROL AND NEEDS TO STOP. I'M SICK AND FUCKING TIRED OF BEING DISRESPECTED FOR BEING THEIR CUSTOMER.

Gamestop's new motto-Power to our bank account.

Fuck them. No longer buying anything from those greedy fucking fucks.

 

[Ninmecu]

No, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Pretty much my reaction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y-UkryMXcI

I was tempted to literally post a thousand no's, but did not want to receiver moderated wrath.

Why am I suddenly wishing this entire goddamn industry would collapse? I think I have more than enough Steam games to weather the apocalypse by now.

I'm not usually one to outright wish chaos and hell unto others, least of all people I don't know, but god damn it would be nice at this point.

 

[Randomosity]

Come on guys, this isn't so bad. Remember when movies had exclusive scenes you could only watch on opening night, or all those books that had pages ripped out of all but the pre-order, or how about all those music albums that removed tracks from those who didn't buy day one? What? You mean you don't remember how great that was? I guess that is because it is terrible idea that never happened.

Seriously, this is a terrible idea. Apply it to just about any other entertainment medium and it completely falls apart. Games are no different in this respect. Locking parts of your game away for all but a select few is stupid and should not be supported or encouraged.