GameStop removed free OnLive Deus Ex: Human Revolution vouchers

If you recently purchased a PC copy of Square Enix's, Deus Ex: Human Revolution from GameStop, you might be missing something that originally came in the box. Square Enix announced a launch promotion with the cloud gaming company, OnLive, that included a voucher for a free digital copy of the game through the company's gaming service. When GameStop got word of it, the retail chain decided to ensure that its customers didn't partake in the promo.

GameStop is making a push to the digital market with its own cloud gaming service, which is set to be fully running within the next year, and the idea of distributing free copies for a competitor didn't sit too well with the mega retailer.

“Please immediately remove and discard the OnLive 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.” stated in a GameStop memo.

The memo was e-mailed to several gaming publications by a Gamestop employee, who declined to further comment on the issue. GameStop's media relations department did confirm the memo, however.

"Square Enix packed the competitor's coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull and discard these coupons," GameStop public relations representative Beth Sharum said.

So, is what GameStop did by opening up Deus Ex copies and removing these promo vouchers actually legal? According to Gamespy's Objection! columns author, Eric Neigher, it all depends on what contracts each company signed.

“Obviously, when one corporation tries to submarine another, and goes about it in a more or less shady way, it looks bad. But, from a legal perspective, a lot depends on what kind of contracts OnLive had with Square, and in turn that Square had with GameStop. If removing this coupon from the PC boxes violated the terms of that contract, obviously GameStop is liable to be sued. If not, there's still an issue as to their responsibility to give purchasers what they expect to be paying for, including, perhaps, marketing materials."

A check on GameStop's website shows that only digital PC copies are available for purchase and hard copies have been pulled from its store shelves. It's also now offering apologies to customers who bought the PC version in the form of a $50 gift card and a buy-two-get-one-free used games coupon.

Despite the company's attempt at a resolution to this issue, there's little left to doubt that its reputation may have been irreparably damaged.