You Just don’t Get it GameStop, do You?

For once I’m not talking about used game sales when talking about GameStop, but about their digital distribution shop. You see, they offer you the tremendous opportunity to purchase a download insurance [reddit] with your game – allowing you to download it again if you lose your copy within 18 months of the purchase. Gee thanks GameStop, that is only what each and every other distribution service takes for granted – and they don’t limit you to 18 months either (even EA saw the light on that one).

This just shows that once again GameStop seems to be ignoring the idea that buying a game means buying the license to use that game and instead tries to sell you the “physical” copy of the software. That is not how it works. If I uninstall a game I have on Steam, I can be sure that I can re-install it whenever I please. Switching systems? No problem at all. See, I paid for the license to use the game, it does not matter whether its data is stored on my computer or not.

Charging extra for what the service should entail in the first place is bad already, but limiting that gracious offer to 18 months is just insulting. People are already afraid of digital distribution for fear of losing access to their games, but GameStop actually tells you that you will lose it.