US games retail giant, GameStop, are discarding the OnLive codes given away with new PC retail copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The codes come on cards inside the game boxes, which must be opened in order to remove and destroy (or keep?) the complimentary OnLive copy of the game.
In a statement made to Ars Technica, a spokesperson for the company has stated that “Square Enix packed the competitor’s coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull these coupons”. So it seems that GameStop expects retailers to clear pack-in literature with them before they get shelf space and if the publishers fail to comply, well, GameStop will just rip open your product, throw away part of it and then sell it without warning the customer. Nice.
Remember, this is the same company that apparently allows their staff to take home brand new games, play them and then bring them back into the store and sell them to unsuspecting customers as new.
Obviously, with GameStop making their own push into digital content distribution next year, they see OnLive as a threat to their business plans. But those cards are part of Square Enix’s pack-in literature. Isn’t this akin to Toys R Us opening boxes to remove free batteries so they can try to sell you some of their own brand at the checkout?
Square Enix doesn’t have any financial stake in OnLive, as far as we’re aware, but they might have an interest in the platform’s success in the future as a healthy platform means more avenues to sell their products.
This seems like a big retailer using its influence in one field to destroy the chances of a competitor in another field that it hasn’t even started competing with yet. I can’t quite get my head around how many levels of wrong that is.
Source: Ars Technica
Smallville2106
Just can’t believe what people think they can get away with and actually do get away with.
skibadee
onlive must be going down the pan to be giving so much of there stuff.
skibadee
^away
3shirts
You have no idea how business works do you?
skibadee
mate don’t try & act like your the big bizz man they are giving it away in the hope someone will go & sign up after getting all the free stuff my point is if you have to keep giving stuff away not a great sign things are working. lets hear what you have to say Alan Suger.
3shirts
I wasn’t trying to be mean, it was supposed to be tongue in cheek, soz.
The point is though, it’s very common practice to give away freebies or heavy discounts to entice people to try the service out, the theory being that they like what they see and keep using it. Service-based businesses do this all the time. LoveFilm, Dropbox, Plusnet, the list goes on. None of these companies are in any trouble.
skibadee
ok sorry I took it the wrong way.
skibadee
still feel Onlive will be a sinking ship if the next Xbox & PS4 come with a discdrive downloadable & streaming. unless they can make a deal with the big players people will go to Sony MS for there all in one option.
The Lone Steven
That is pathetic. Destroying codes for Onlive which the customer is entitled to. I think Square Enix may be able to sue them as they probably spent a fair bit of money on the vouchers. I am never ever going to shop at Gamestop. :) I’m pretty sure that it is up to the publisher what the put in the box and not a major retailer. I think this will damage their reputation.
That is like using the online passes with new copies and then sel…. right, they already do that.
The Lone Steven
I just realised that they could be ruining the new game smell by opening up the games. The cruel people! :(
fattyuk
That sort of thing is on another level of wrongness!
Mick939
I love new game smell
The Lone Steven
What the ruining new game smell or the new game smell? I’m a bit confused by your comment Fatty. :)
colmshan1990
What did they do when Portal 2 came out?
Did they remove the Steam version code?
nofi
Fuck’s sake.
nofi
“Square Enix packed the competitor’s coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull these coupons”
It’s not /your/ product. Words can’t explain how fucking shite this is. Someone get me Gamestop’s PR dept.
3shirts
I hope someone buys it then finds out and, being American, sues their asses
DrNate86
If I lived in America I would so get a job at GameStop!
Mick939
Ignoring the shocking story to say. I used to work at toysrus, the cashiers generally are targeted to sell you batteries
hazelam
aren’t they stealing from the customers in doing this?
the code is part of the package the publisher is selling.
surely this cannot be legal.
they can refuse to stock it but i doubt they have any right to tamper with the contents.
skibadee
Square Enix have made a statement saying gamestop have the right to do it & there sorry for not letting them no the code was there.
3shirts
Indeed. Baffling. I can only guess that some money has changed hands here
hazelam
well, i guess if square are ok with it.
still seems a little dodgy to me though.
Porcupine_I
Shoddy Busienessism!