GameStop Caught Throwing Out Codes Found Inside New Game Boxes
posted Sunday Aug 28, 2011 by Nicholas DiMeo
GameStop has always been known for doing the right thing, right? Well, then this story should come as a shocker to you. If you have purchased your copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution from GameStop, you may have noticed a little code missing from your box. The code was to allow you to play the game for free using the wonderful services of OnLive.
GameStop, being afraid of a little competition, decided to remove those codes and that memo came from top brass, specifically Josh Ivanoff, GameStop's Field Operations Manager.
Please immediately remove and discard the On Live coupon from all regular PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Our desire is to not have this coupon go to any customers after this announcement.
Clearly, some associate in GameStop didn't agree with this and leaked the image of the memo. Good for them! GameStop now has to eat their words and apologize, and we have the details after the break.
What kills me is that this instruction meant that employees had to break the seal on each new copy of the game and then throw out a free code. The other part of this is that customers didn't seem to notice or care that the game wasn't sealed. I must wonder how they missed that but I know the mentality of some of this store's shoppers.
At any rate, the dirty deed has been done and someone tattled on GameStop. Now it's time for damage control. Here's a lovely letter from GameStop CEO Paul Raines that was sent out to customers that they could identify purchased the game.
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
They were not aware that there was a free coupon code for OnLive in there? I reference the image just after the break. Either way, the ones who are still buying games from GameStop and purchased Deus Ex get a Buy 2, Get 1 promo and a $50 GameStop card. Buy your last games from there with the free stuff and get out! You should have known better from when you found out that GameStop was charging you more for used copies of EA games that needed a code for you to play online.
