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UPDATE: GameStop Pulling OnLive Coupons From Deus Ex: Human Revolution
UPDATE 2: Giant Bomb has also received an official statement from Square Enix regarding the Deus Ex situation. In the statement, the publisher owns up to not informing GameStop that PC copies of the game would be packaged with a coupon for a competitor:
"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. 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."
UPDATE: According to a new report by Giant Bomb, GameStop has reacted to backlash from this Deus Ex news by pulling PC copies of the game entirely. According to an e-mail allegedly sent to every store, GameStop employees have been ordered to move regular PC editions of the game the backroom, where they "will be recalled at a later date."
Reservations will continue to be fulfilled, and GameStop will accept any returns from disgruntled fans who have a receipt. Whatever copies of Deus Ex remain will be sent back to Square Enix, and it's unclear if they'll be replaced with new copies without an OnLive voucher or not.
ORIGINAL STORY: Deus Ex buyers who spring for the retail PC version of the game are supposed to receive a bonus code to play the game on the OnLive streaming service. However, according to a new report, customers purchasing those retail copies at GameStop will discover that the code has been removed.
GameSpy reports that employees were sent an e-mail by GameStop management informing them to "immediately remove and discard" OnLive coupons from PC copies of Human Revolution.
GameStop public relations representative Beth Sharum confirmed the move to GameSpy, saying, "Square Enix packed the competitor's coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull and discard these coupons."
We reached out to GameStop for further clarification and received the following statement:
"We pulled the coupons because, like all retailers, we prefer not to promote our competitors and their competing offerings and services in our stores. Unfortunately, the coupon was packed without our prior knowledge."
[Full disclosure: Game Informer is owned by GameStop.]
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