GameStop Pulls PC Version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution

[Andy Chalk]

GameStop Pulls PC Version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution

GameStop is no longer selling the regular PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

It came to light yesterday that GameStop was opening copies of the PC version of removing a coupon [http://www.amazon.com/Deus-Ex-Human-Revolution-Pc/dp/B002I0HKRQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1314288731&sr=8-4] that offered owners a free copy of the game from cloud gaming company OnLive. GameStop made no bones about it, saying that Square Enix put the coupons in so it pulled them out, but that forthrightness did nothing to soothe the savage gamers. So now GameStop has gone to Plan B: it's not going to sell the game at all until Square Enix comes across with a coupon-free version.

A memo was sent out to every store in the company, telling employees to pull all regular edition copies of DX:HR for the PC in advance of a recall. "As GameStop is developing a streaming service in our Spawn Labs Cloud Computing Division, the coupon that was included is for a competing service," the memo said. "We are returning all copies of the PC regular edition to the vendor in agreement with Square Enix."

Square Enix, meanwhile, released a statement acknowledging its role in the debacle. "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," the statement said. "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 [http://www.gamestop.com]."

It was beyond not smart to bust open copies of the game and yoink materials from the box, regardless of the circumstances, but at least the company appears to have recognized the immensity of its faux pas and is now doing its best to clean up the mess without stepping on any more dicks. According to the memo sent to GameStop stores, existing preorders can still be filled with the existing stock and any aggrieved customer who wants to return the game can do so with a receipt.

Source: RedEyesBlackGamer [http://videogamewriters.com/exclusive-gamestop-recalls-deus-ex-human-revolution-amidst-onlive-controversy-21768] for the tip.


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[RagingNinja]

I can't really blame GameStop for doing it. Sure it was wrong for them to open up the box and pull out the coupon, but it was also wrong for Square Enix to put coupons for a competing vendor into the box in the first place.

 

[Baresark]

.... It's a steamworks title.... at no point can you not have it on a competing digital service. Wonder what's going to happen to Skyrim now.

 

[Irridium]

Well fuck, I was going to go out and buy it in a couple days.

Will they still be selling the Augmented Edition at least?

 

[draythefingerless]

see thats more like it GameStop. this should of been Plan A, not Plan B.

 

[XaVierDK]

.... It's a steamworks title.... at no point can you not have it on a competing digital service. Wonder what's going to happen to Skyrim now.

Steam isn't a streaming service (yet)...
As far as I understood, this was a dispute over the fact that OnLive was included in the box, and since Gamestop is soon (apparently) opening their own cloud gaming service, they didn't want to contribute to a competing service...

Best Regards

 

[Alpha Maeko]

I only preorder a 360 game from Game Stop from time to time, and only because of the special offers like Gears 3 Beta.

Otherwise, I buy all my games elsewhere (AKA: Walmart & Steam)

 

[Booze Zombie]

Gamestop: Our reputation is worse than Bobby Kotick's!

 

[JediMB]

.... It's a steamworks title.... at no point can you not have it on a competing digital service. Wonder what's going to happen to Skyrim now.

Steam isn't a streaming service (yet)...

But Steam is in competition with GameStop's download service.

And it's not like GameStop actually has a cloud gaming service up and running, or is promising to offer Deus Ex: Human Revolution on it once it goes live.

 

[XaVierDK]

.... It's a steamworks title.... at no point can you not have it on a competing digital service. Wonder what's going to happen to Skyrim now.

Steam isn't a streaming service (yet)...

But Steam is in competition with GameStop's download service.

And it's not like GameStop actually has a cloud gaming service up and running, or is promising to offer Deus Ex: Human Revolution on it once it goes live.

I don't think Gamestop minds selling a game which requires Steam, as long as people actually buy the game in a Gamestop... But the blatant advertising of a (soon-to-be) competing service in a product they sell? I can sorta understand where they're coming from

 

[V8 Ninja]

Wait a second, Gamestop sells PC games? Since when did this happen? Last I checked (which was admittedly about 2-3 years ago), Gamestop only sold console and handheld games.

A Bit More OT: This is...odd. On one hand not selling a game that fans have been waiting a decade for is a pretty stupid business strategy, but on the other hand not selling already-opened games as "New" copies has a sort of pride to it. Then again, maybe the reason Gamestop stopped selling Deus Ex: HR is because they realized that someone would've been able to sue their asses for a very large sum of money.

 

[RaikuFA]

what are they going to do with copies that were reserved? like me, theres people who cant get to a gamestop until the weekend. guess what it gonna look like if their copy isnt there? its not worth it gamestop

 

[Callate]

GameStop made no bones about it, saying that Square Enix put the coupons in so it pulled them out, but that forthrightness did nothing to soothe the savage gamers.

Last time, on The Escapist:

Shortly after it went on sale, buyers began reporting to GameSpy that their supposedly brand-new copies had been opened and that the OnLive coupon was missing. Dodgy, yes, but things didn't get full-on greasy until an anonymous source provided the site with a photo of an email, allegedly from GameStop management, telling employees to pull the coupons from the PC version of the game and throw them away. "Our desire is to not have this coupon go to any customers after this announcement," the memo said.

Confirming the situation, a GameStop rep told GameSpy that the removal of coupons was in fact mandated by the company.

...I realize there's a bit of a tongue-in-cheek thing going here, but how exactly does owning up to what was ordered in an e-mail when pressed on the matter after the fact equate to "forthrightness"?

Or to put it another way, why should "savage" gamers be soothed by a quality that pretty much manifestly doesn't exist?

I realize it's an unpleasant situation, though, and it is good to see them still honoring their pre-orders as they should.

 

[Serving UpSmiles]

Eh i can see Gamestop's point of view, say if you were selling sanwiches, and those sandwiches came with a label that said "Buy these sanwiches from the shop across the street" Then you're the middle man of advertising.

They should have said something sooner instead of all this trickery.

 

[JediMB]

.... It's a steamworks title.... at no point can you not have it on a competing digital service. Wonder what's going to happen to Skyrim now.

Steam isn't a streaming service (yet)...

But Steam is in competition with GameStop's download service.

And it's not like GameStop actually has a cloud gaming service up and running, or is promising to offer Deus Ex: Human Revolution on it once it goes live.

I don't think Gamestop minds selling a game which requires Steam, as long as people actually buy the game in a Gamestop... But the blatant advertising of a (soon-to-be) competing service in a product they sell? I can sorta understand where they're coming from

But once someone buys a Steamworks game and is forced to install and register for Steam, they'll naturally be more inclined to buy games on Steam rather than on GameStop in the future.

It's the same thing as for OnLive. They register for the service to get their free copy of Deus Ex, and then they start investing money in other games.

 

[neolithic]

Raiku: they aren't sending them back yet, they are just pulling them to the back room. The memo from the Gamestop higher ups said they can fill any existing pre-orders with those copies pulled to the back room. You just won't get the coupon obviously.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Don't buy anything from gamestop.

Their days are numbered anyway, the specialty "mass market" retailer can't compete in the internet age. And particularly for something like games when the whole thing is going to go digital before too long.