In a bid to strengthen a given aspect of their market share, retailing giant GameStop is looking to start accepting more of console bundles with physical game copies by denying bundles that come with digital download codes only.
This was iterated at the most recent earnings call of the company where Tony Bertel, the chief operating officer at the retailing corporation, gave the example of a certain Madden 16 bundle with PS4 and Xbox One which they rejected and got it replaced by a physical copy of the game:
It is important to note that during the recent release of EA’s Madden 16, we worked with our partners to offer a free physical game with the purchase of either a PS4 or Xbox One and did not carry the Xbox One digital bundle. We expect that if a game is provided as a promotional item in a hardware bundle, GameStop will see more of these physical offers than digital pack-ins on upcoming third-party releases.
However, this is not a standalone case; GameStop says they have made it clear to every publisher that they want physical copies of games with the console bundles.
The primary reason for this that with the growing digital market, GameStop and others like them are looking at an imminent shortage of used copies of the games being floated back and forth between them and the consumers.
This poses a major change in the revenues of the company as they undoubtedly rely on sales generated from cheaper, used titles, so they are doing whatever they can to ensure that market doesn’t die out.
