Gamestop Gives Unintended Assist in Piracy

By Joe Haygood | December 5, 2008

Over the years here at Aeropause, we have had numerous articles and complaints about the whole open games policy of Gamestop and Electronics Boutique.  Well, it seems that those open boxes may have another huge consequence for the unsuspecting PC gamer that decides to buy one of those open cased games.

While I was out an about a few weeks ago, I was out at a Gamestop not too far from my house.  It is a pretty good Gamestop and a store where the employees know who I am and are don’t give me too much hassle.  After awhile, I decided to pull the trigger on Quantum of Solace, the new James Bond game for the PC.  Of course, the only copy of the game they had was an open copy.  When I said yes to purchasing the game, I noticed the clerk only pulled out a DVD for the game.  I asked about the manual and he said it was already in the box.  Doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that the CD code for the game, and to use the Games for Windows Live service was on the back of the manual.  I immediately mentioned this to the clerk, who seemed less than disturbed about it, stating that, “it would be fine” and, “it can’t be used without the disc”.

I could not believe my ears in hearing this.  I went back to the shelf and found three other games where the CD codes were smack dab in the package.  Games like Left 4 Dead, Mercenaries 2 and Spider Man Web of Shadows.  When I talked to the manager about this, it was said that it was a mistake and it would not happen again.

With this in mind, I decided to canvas the other Gamestop stores in the area, to see if I could have the same experience.  My next stop was a Gamestop I have mentioned in the past, the Galleria at Tyler mall location.  When I arrived there, I immediately went to the PC rack where I found at least 10 different CD codes for PC games.  Same thing happened at an Electronics Boutique just down the road.  At that location, I found at least six games that had CD codes on the inside of the packaging, on the shelves.

The lone bright spot was the Gamestop that was located by the University of Riverside, California.  When I went in to the store, the newest PC games were all sealed, and behind the counter.  When I checked the older games, I noticed that almost all of them did not have manuals in the packaging, and the ones that did, lacked CD keys on them.

I sent an email to Gamestop for commentary on the issue, but after three days, there has been no comment on the issue.  I wanted to give their side of the story to see if this was an unforeseen issue with their open box policy, or if a few stores were breaking the rules by not removing all the articles from the box that might compromise the packaging.

Gamestop and EB Games need to realize that PC gamers are already behind a big enough 8-ball as it is when it comes to game sales.  They do not need another problem drying up sales.  Employees need to realize that unlike console games, these codes are worth more than the disc that is packaged with the game.  The code is what validates the game, not the disc.  You can beat the disc, but not the online code validation.  In the end, PC gamers do not need a retail establishment assisting with the problem of piracy.

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