GameStop Stealing Freebie from “Deus Ex”?

UPDATE: Looks like GameStop is pulling the games entirely.

We all know it, we all hate it, we all try to avoid it: GameStop. I haven’t bought anything in a GameStop for nearly two years now just based on how they treat their employees: if I have to buy games in a mall, I’d rather wade through the blueshirts at Best Buy. And now we’ve got another reason to hate the company that controls 98% of the used game market: they’re stealing from their customers.

A memo went out a few days ago ordering store managers to crack open new copies of “Deus Ex: Human Evolution” and take out the free coupon for an OnLive copy of the game, a $50 value. GameStop’s justification? “They’re competitors, and we don’t promote our competitors.”

GameStop PR people, if you’re reading: tough noogies. Square Enix cut a deal with OnLive, and quite frankly that deal has zero impact on your actual bricks and mortar business. If a customer is showing up and giving you $60, they have a right to the full value of that money, even if it means your competitors get to give a game which you sold to somebody for free.

Secondly, I think I’m going to show up to GameStop with a few games tomorrow, and tell them I want them sold as new. Oh, there’s no plastic on them? Well, you took the plastic off of and cracked open copies of “Deus Ex”. Those are new, right?

[ via Ars Technica ]

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