Last week I read about an incredible offer for Ubisoft’s upcoming PS3-exclusive first-person shooter “Haze.” According to a flyer published on blog Dark Zero that I saw on Kotaku, the Canadian branch of EB Games (GameStop) was offering gamers what amounted to a one-week rental.
The flyer reads: “PLAY HAZE FOR A WEEK: Pre-purchase Haze and get full in-store credit back when you trade Haze in within one week of pick-up!”
Was it real? Yes. Is it still being offered?
A Ubisoft representative told me yesterday: no.
On Monday, I had contacted Ubisoft PR in the U.S. to find out how this deal had come about, what the incentive was for Ubisoft if the publisher was indeed involved, and if this generous offer was being extended to U.S. gamers as well.
What I was told by a member of the Ubisoft’s PR team in the U.S. yesterday was that there had been a miscommunication between the publisher’s Canadian arm and the EB Games retail chain in Canada. Furthermore, the issue has been rectified some time in the last week and the promotion has been cancelled. I was unable to get further details on how this miscommunication happened.
I contacted GameStop/EB for comment late yesterday, but have not received a reply as of this writing.
Was this deal too good to be true? It certainly was too good for a major publisher to tolerate. An offer like the one in the flyer would have a) allowed gamers a no-risk, week-long trial of a full-priced game and b) ensured that many subsequent Canadian EB sales of the game involved copies traded in by early-adopters who were done with it. Those subsequent sales of the traded-in games would in no way would have benefited the publisher of the game.
Sorry, Canadian gamers. You had to know that wasn’t going to stand.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:01 am
However, EBgames return policy is always if you don’t like the game within 7 days, you can always trade the game in for store credit.
March 19th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
That only applies to used games.
March 20th, 2008 at 12:03 am
EBGames have done this with other games before, like God of War II. Sure, a week later the place was flooded with used copies that are only $5 less than a new copy. Still, I don’t think Ubi should stop this if it gets more people playing Haze. If they’re really as confident in the game, then they should expect a good number of people to keep the game for its multiplayer. And they’ve had this promo going for months, even before the push to May.
March 20th, 2008 at 8:37 am
It might make more people play Haze, but Sony, Ubisoft and Free Radical won’t make any money from the used games. EB games will sell it for $5 cheaper and get a 100% slice of pie from each sale (technically no-longer a slice).
I can totally understand why Ubisoft do not want this to happen. If anything, it points to the fact that EB games think that Haze is good and want to milk it.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:05 am
In Australia EB has a policy that allows you to return any game within 7 days for a full refund. I did it just recently with both Frontlines and Army of Two and on both occassions had the full purchase price credited back to my credit card. I assumed this was world-wide EB practice?
March 20th, 2008 at 11:09 am
kevlar,
The GameStops in the U.S. will give you your money back only if you bought a used copy of the game. You got full refunds for new copies of Frontlines and Army of Two? Or for used ones?
March 20th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Read your article and just so you know the Gaming Guarantee for Haze is still on - check the link
http://www.ebgames.ca/fsi.asp
Paul the updater