The phrase “lesser of two evils” is often used to describe a scenario where two possible outcomes can occur, both of which are considered to have undesirable consequences. The “lesser” of these “two evils” is the outcome that is considered to have less dire consequences than the other option.
Choosing the lesser of two evils is a decision that GameStop has had to make quite recently.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the third instalment in the widely popular Deus Ex series, was released just days ago by Square Enix and Eidos Montreal. On release, Square Enix announced that all copies of the game would contain a coupon to download the game via a service called OnLive for no extra charge.
GameStop naturally got hold of this announcement and decided to pull all their copies off the shelves before launch, rip off the games packaging, and quickly remove the OnLive coupon before placing the game back on the shelves.
When news broke loose of this the general consensus was that GameStop are completely evil and must be punished by way of boycotting all their games. This might sound like an exaggeration of the truth but the fact of the matter is that when people don’t like something, they will simply band up together and attempt a boycott. One only has to search Google for suitable support groups on the matter.
As with all blogs and as all blog authors eventually do, I shall give my opinion on the matter and explain my lesser of two evils theory on the matter.
My opinion is quite simple: In regards to removing the OnLive coupons, I will defend GameStop on this one. But as far as their methods go in removing the coupons, I don’t necessarily agree with that.
I believe that GameStop had two major options in deciding what to do, and this is where the “lesser of two evils” comes in. In either scenario, GameStop is going to lose out in some way, but their decision was probably far less damaging than the alternative.
Do Nothing
The first option GameStop had after learning about the OnLive coupons is to do nothing. Keep the product sealed, do not touch the product, do not remove any coupon from the product.
Likely repercussions of this decision would result in consumers finding the coupons in their game and possibly using them, driving potential customers away from further purchases at GameStop.
OnLive is in direct competition with GameStop. GameStop has no direct financial relationship with OnLive, makes no money off of them and is apparently planning on setting up their own service similar to how OnLive currently works.
By doing nothing, GameStop run the potential risk of losing business because more people have become aware of OnLive, have tried it out and may have even liked it so much as to use GameStop less and OnLive more. This isn’t something that can be merely shrugged off, it is a real possibility and one GameStop’s management would definitely want to consider avoiding.
Remove the Coupons
The second option is to simply open up all the copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and remove the OnLive coupons before shipping them off to customers. This is the option they chose.
The repercussions of this option are ones that we can actually see happening now. Public opinion has been wildly negative towards GameStop opening the packages and removing the coupons. Some gamers don’t like them removing the coupons, others simply dislike them tampering with the product itself.
My opinion is that this is the lesser of two evils. This is the option that has consequences that GameStop will simply recover from quite quickly.
The people making the complaints towards GameStop are probably the vocal minority. It is more than likely that the large majority of GameStop shoppers are unaware of what GameStop has done or just do not care and so will continue to buy from GameStop. Ignorance is bliss, so the saying goes.
The backlash caused by the decision is something GameStop can recover from. They, like many other companies before them, have gone under public scrutiny in the past and recovered from it rather quickly. People have short fuses but also short memories, and most of the people complaining will buy the game elsewhere and forget about the scenario altogether.
This scenario is better than the alternative: GameStop losing business, losing potential profits because they let their consumers get ahold of the coupons. Even if only a few thousand actually use OnLive due to the coupons that’s still a thousand people that GameStop lost in potential future revenue, and that’s much worse for a business than having a few thousand people hate you for a couple of weeks.
As for the legality and morality of the situation?
Attorney Mark Methenitis has stated that consumers’ rights have not been violated, and even though you could try and sue them, your case would probably be dismissed very quickly. Square Enix has also made an announcement that they never informed GameStop of the coupons before the game’s release (note: the main article linked to is not something I’ll be discussing, only the announcement made by Square Enix is my concern).
The morality of course, is always subjective. Some people dislike their games having that fresh new seal opened, they like ripping it open themselves. I’m one of these people, but I don’t complain as loudly as some people have done when my game comes to clearly having been opened in some way. In fact, EB Games in New Zealand (owned by GameStop) has been known to open their games and remove the discs to put in their back rooms for security purposes. Nothing else of value is ever touched, damaged or taken, and if it were you could simply ask for a new copy and you’d be granted it.
I think that people are overreacting on the “open package” stance. It’s also unlikely that there is anything illegal about it since GameStop continue to own all games on their premises until you’ve actually paid for it. Alongside this, “new” does not necessarily constitute “sealed”. The only people who may have any ounce of a case would be people who have preordered their games (therefore already paid for a copy) but that’s fairly debatable and I still don’t think a lawsuit would get very far.
When you brought Deus Ex: Human Revolution, did you pay for the game, or did you pay to simply open a new package? You should enjoy the game you paid for, not the packaging it comes sealed in.