Deals for gamers are dying off left and right. First, Best Buy Gamer’s Club Unlocked was quietly snuffed out. After that, Amazon Prime began adding stipulations on game eligibility, stating that remakes and rereleases were no longer discounted. Keep in mind, this was after already going from Amazon went from its original 20% off newly-released games to 20% off preorders only. Recently, we saw Amazon UK End the £2 Prime discount on preorders all together. Now there’s a rumor circulating that GameStop is planning to end its Elite Pro membership tier. The rumor started on r/Gamestop with user u/Red_Trainer, allegedly an assistant manager at the store, claiming their District Leader informed them that the program would be cancelled starting August 1, 2018.
While we’re still waiting for official confirmation from GameStop, this decision would make sense. GameStop itself is up for sale, having confirmed buyout rumors in June 2018. Considering the recent decreases in discounts among GameStop’s competition (i.e Best Buy and Amazon), the company does not need to provide incentives to shoppers. Plus, while discounts can be good for business due to getting people in the stores and possibly spending more, some deals are too good to create optimal profit margins.
Keep in mind, the GameStop’s Elite Pro Membership was also really new. The membership tier rolled out in Fall 2017. While it’s understandable for fans to upset and/or worried, this could just be a failed experiment for the company, rather than a sign of their demise.
The GameStop Elite Pro Membership was priced at $29.99 per year and came with the following perks:
- 30 points for every dollar spent (3x points)
- A birthday offer
- 20% off pre-owned software and accessories
- 20% extra trade credit on software, accessories, and for the first time ever, tech
- 12 issues of Game Informer Magazine
- A Buy 2 Get 1 free pre-owned games welcome offer
- A collectibles welcome offer
- Free 2-day shipping
There are no rumors surrounding the standard Pro membership, which is $14.99 per year and has the following benefits:
- 20 points for every dollar spent (2x points)
- A birthday offer
- 10% off pre-owned software and accessories
- 10% extra trade credit on software, accessories, and for the first time ever, tech
- 12 issues of Game Informer Magazine
- A Buy 2 Get 1 free pre-owned games welcome offer
- Exclusive Pro Day Sales
If this GameStop rumor is true, will you be affected? What do you think about the current state of deals in the video game industry? Let us know in the comments below.
[Source: r/GameStop]
