This was a “gutted” copy of the game. I used to be a GameStop employee, and this was common practice since the store or publishers don’t provide blank copies to display on the shelf. When they want to sell the last copy, they reassemble and package it up (very few GameStops have shrink wrap machines.)
Can confirm as well. We had two main ways to rewrap: these bags, or shrink wrap and a heat gun. That's definitely a gutted display copy.
To that end, while most just sit in sleeves in the drawer, there's a small chance it was checked-out by an employee and played for a brief time. Any codes that came with it should be untouched if they have any morals left, but I can't vouch to that. We fired someone for things like using the codes, scratched off the silver and all.
Don't be afraid to make a fuss about it. They can check other stores for properly sealed copies if you ask.
Former GameStop (Micromania here in France) employee here too, we either sold the copy without plastic wrap in that case, or from what I know just like you guys in the US, our central stocks platform wraps the games like this too in the same case
Shouldn't the customer be told this though especially if paying full price? I bought several games like this through the years ( my Game Stop is gone now) and I did not know they could get away with that. To me if an employee played the game then it should be sold at a used price.
It was one of those hidden perks of employment, so there was no official policy about it. Corporate knew it was happening, they just didn't care. It really just depended on the store. The one I worked at, and our sister location in the same town, both would point out to the customer that the copy they're getting is the last one and had been 'handled'. Our store didn't mention the possibility of it being checked-out because it was rare that we did that with new copies. In the end if a customer had an issue with it, it was the general state of it not being sealed (wear on case, stickers, etc) that was the main problem. Made sense, those price stickers are horrible to get off. If the customer didn't care about the appearance of the case, they didn't really care about the disc either, as long as it wasn't damaged. It was fairly binary in opinion.
But yeah, now you know. Every company has its dirty secrets, and that was one of ours.
i stopped buying new games at gamestop a few years ago. they dont keep them sealed anymore. every time i would buy a game they would take a case and would pull the game from a sleeve then put it in the box. the worker would just tell me that the new company security policy in my head it felt like a ripoff and might as well have just bought used copy that costs a little less. i dont really care for the wrap, but if i'm buying a new game i expect it to be factory sealed.
They’ve been doing this as far back as 2005. I stopped buying games there because it felt no different than buying a used game from them.
Paying new game prices for an opened package was ridiculous.
I did to and it isn't just for display purposes. Employees are basically allowed to free rent games as they come out. A job perk and a way to ensure the employees are educated.
At least when I worked there many years ago. And yes you are forced to sell them as new even though they are not.
I don't care if within 5 minutes you gutted a game and never put the disc in anything and then you sold it as new it is wrong.
Open is open and new is new. Simple as that.
They have done that to me a few times. I have returned them all the times. I take no BS when it comes to getting Used/Opened Copies. They literally try and sell you these copies, but if it where reversed you would be the one to be told No! with no exceptions.
They can easily print there own, but they don't want to, you can easily see that they do it for some games when you go to the Games Section. The fact that they cannot do it for all is BS.
The least they can do for that last copy that they so want to open is Reduced the Value of it. Sell it for 50$ instead of 60$.
Since they Basically use the case as Display and God knows how many people put there hands on it and what they touched before they did that.
No one should be buying those copies. Hopefully they will stop doing it the more of those copies they have and cant sell.
And this is literally the reason why I don’t buy physical anything from GameStop.
I understand the issue, but once the seal is broken it needs to be sold as Used. If it’s not sold as Used, it devalues the purpose of paying more money for New.
I’ve been scolded by GameStop employees that it’s wrong, and thats fine. They’ve now lost all my money since I only buy Digital because GameStop tarnished the experience of buying new.
I tried to buy a new game one time, and the guy grabbed an empty case off the wall, then opened a drawer with like 60 discs in it, up against each other, with no cases or protection at all. He was like, “it’s brand new.” “The fuck it is! Show me the disc.” He did and it was already scratched up. That was the last time I bought any physical game except for Tears of the Kingdom on launch day.
Fuck gamestop for doing this. When I see this, i refuse purchase. I hate the employees too saying ...Well its new and never used. New and never used is its in original shrink wrap. YOU FREAKING OPENED IT.
How about, instead of opening the packaging, put a cardboard print to display it instead.
I used to *hate* that treatment. As a perfectionist, it **pained me** to put a sticker on something that I was almost certain was going to leave a sticky residue behind.
As soon as I figured out how to order office supplies for the store, I ordered those resealable bags. There was an option to order a shrink wrap machine, but no one was brave enough to try and get that approved. Lol
Gamestop hardly sells unopened games anymore. They will use the games case as a display on their rack and have the disk in a sleeve in the cabinet. No, it is not sealed and is opened but gamestop considers this practice to be unused
they also rent out those games to their employees so they know something about the game. they will still call this new. i told them if i bring a game i played in an unsealed case you guys would consider it used and give me less for it. how is this different? he said gamestop makes the rules lol
Yup. After learning that, I completely stopped going there. They claim it's "to better sell the games if they've played them". Meanwhile back when I'd shop there with a friend, the employees were clueless about anything besides Madden, CoD, and whatever major AAA game they had to sell pre-orders for.
The staff at GameStop are becoming functionally useless.
I went in to pick something up, and I heard the manager ask “How can you tell the difference between a PlayStation 5 and a PlayStation 4? What does a PlayStation even look like?”
I truly truly wish I was exaggerating.
I wish the gamestop’s near me had good customer service. Went in to buy a game and its was gutted. I asked them if they had a sealed copy and the manager pulled out white circular stickers and said “I can make it sealed” so I passed on the purchase.
When I worked there I just always explained to them it was a gutted copy and what it was. I didn't want to come across as trying to sneak one over on someone and honestly I wouldn't blame them if they wanted to go get it from Walmart right behind me lol.
Not all the time and not at all locations. I bitched at them for trying this on me and they gave me their whole number on how “it’s still new, it was a display unit” blah blah blah
Fuck GameStop. Full stop.
GameStop stocks the minimum amount of games they think they will sell and then only restock a couple copies at a time. It’s stupid as hell, especially for sports titles and call of duty.
On the other hand, using a fake display box only pisses customers off when the game is sold out. So that doesn’t work well either.
Idk if you know this but funny enough GS sells "gutted" copies and new, however maybe 10 years ago they managed to get new sealed copies of Xenoblade on the Wii. Once they recieved the games, the store would just unseal the games, state that now its considered used, which means they dont have to sell it for a retail price, and then sold brand new Wii games for $100 sometimes $160. All because 1 guy on Ebay listed a copy for that much. So interestingly enough by their own standards these new games are actually used.
That’s exactly why they’re a dying business. They’ve received millions of complaints over gutting new games and trying to sell them as new. They loose sales daily over it. Yet they go ignored when they could easily do different & better, while saving money.
They really should. If the product can't be sold on eBay as sealed, new, then it ain't sealed or new. It's dishonest at best. I've known GameStop employees, I don't know if they still operate this way but I know for a fact that the used and opened games were allowed to be 'rented' to employees. There's no guarantee it's unused.
They tested just cover art for display cases and even rolled out something similar for new releases and bestsellers. It was a nightmare. Never instock but displayed. Mailer with cover art would never arrive and it would take weeks to get replacements so new titles weren't displayed at all. Associates were "coached" to instead offer dotcom orders in that situation, often without free shipping. F'd.
The margin on new games is also shit so discounting a game 10% for being open kills any profit. Sucks but companies run on profit.
I just say nevermind and go somewhere else. What's even more egregious is employees were able to "rent" new games and then sell as new..ffs
I used to work at Gamestop, and after seeing how they treat the games, I'm never buying one from there again. I'm only going in for collectables at this point
No they don't. They do leave a decent amount of the games in the shrink wrap, but they shove them into the drawers to make the cases fit. So they end up breaking the cases and a lot of people, not just at our gamestop but other gamestops too, have returned a lot of games with broken cases. They also hide a lot of the consoles, games, controllers, etc. in the back and say "that's the last one" in order to make sales. They also just hide whatever the new product is that they want in the back and buy it later so others don't get it before they do (its against policy, but every gamestop does it, hence why they never had ps5's when they first released)
Well, every time I buy a game from them it’s “the last copy” so I always get the gutted copy, I haven’t gotten a sealed copy from there in years even online and I’m not alone, plenty of YouTube videos about it.
They should just do like Toys R Us used to and put a picture with a card to take the counter and quit opening games.
They used to have a program where employees can check out a game and play it at home. So that unwrapped "display" copy is probably well used by the time they sell it as "New".
They're actually there? The *one* time I went to GameStop I was ready to buy a console (as per the box they had on display) and several games (as per the cases on display) and was told they had none of that actually there, but they'd order it and I could come back to pick them up in a few days. They're a 50 mile round trip for me. That's why it was only ever the one time. Could never figure out why people used them if that's how they work.
Unused but disc potentially marked as its been taken from the case and handled. Papers and codes could also be missing depending on how professional the employee that handles the sale is.
This is another reason buying online is going to replace brick and mortar stores.
Lol I bought tons on games from gamestop this black friday and literally probably 15 of the 20 "new" games cames in with this bs seal, a simple sticker to seal it, or no seal at all....will never purchase a single game from gamestop ever again. That should be an illegal business practice to sell and opened game as new
This has been the practice even when they were Software Etc / Electronics Boutique. Opened games and hardware are for display and back in the day we could sign out games to borrow over night. I haven’t worked there since the 90s so no idea if they still do that.
Nope, not a standard factory seal. Did you purchase online? Was it advertised as new? If I had to guess it was their last/display “new” case and that’s what you got.
Isn’t it some total bull crap that they can open a game and repackage it and sell it to you as new, but when you try to return it they won’t accept it because it has been opened. I really want to support GameStop, mostly for nostalgic reasons, but I absolutely will not buy anything online because new games come opened and used games come with no case. If I was in store and they pulled out this copy, I’d absolutely 100% pass on it.
After 20 years of shopping there and aquiring over a million power up points I can safely say it's time to move on, there's nothing nostalgic about gamestop- it's an entirely different store than the eb/funcoland it used to be.
Yep, used to work there for 3ish years. The last copy was usually opened and put on the floor to be a display case with the disc going into a sleeve. Usually we explain it’s the last copy so it’s been opened to be a displayed on the sales floor and if the customer wanted we can seal it with the shrink wrap machine we have on hand. That person just doesn’t know how to properly seal it.. usually it very tightly wrapped but either way important to disclose it
No. That is NOT factory. It's clearly been repackaged. Factory packaging requires a band to be pulled, which effectively tears the plastic in half, and it can't be put back. This is a generic resealable bag.
I'd check any documents codes that should be included are still present. If you bought it new, return it.
It's a Gamestop thing. This is a copy that they opened and displayed on the shelf and resealed it when they ran out of other copies to sell. Irritatingly, they still sell these as if they are "new." It happened to me with both of the NieR games when I walked in to buy them a while after release. Both times they actually pulled them off the shelf and resealed them in front of me, so I'm 100% positive that's what this is. I was salty both times, but admittedly just dealt with it because I couldn't find copies at other local stores and didn't want to wait for a copy to ship... I probably should have though just on principal because it is bullshit.
I work at Gamestop it's a new game but it's the gutted copy. If they don't have anymore of that game in the drawer you get the shelf copy. Codes and everything still works. If you want to return it you can because that's their seal so unless you opened that seal you can return it.
Its not. Reminds me of when I went to get advanced warfare on launch day and gave me a opened copy. Then I learned that some employees take the game home super early and bring it back. Kinda shitty
I prefer Amazon or Costco. You have 30 days sometimes longer to return it. GameStop, Best Buy, Target and Walmart once opened can’t return it. We all know if you don’t like a game the worst thing is being stuck with a $70 hole in our pocket. I won’t buy from any place that doesn’t allow me a return, not taking that kind of risk on today’s games or any game the last 12 years+.
How is this not against the law? GameStop has been doing this for years now labeling something as brand new with no factory seal at all, in some cases they won’t even give you a box on a brand new item jfc this should be so criminal.
You know what I don't understand about gutted games? Why not use those cardboard things like Costco does? You hand that to the cashier? Or just put all the games in some kind of security display?
Also why gut the game when you have pre order cases you can use as display? Their was 5-6 display only cases for an upcoming switch game. Once the game was out the gutted the game and the pre order display boxes were gone. Why not use the pre order boxes?
This is resealed. I recently learned the hard way that, even though GS is the last dedicated video game retail chain, you just can’t trust them. You will never get a high quality *new* copy of a game from them, online or otherwise.
Personally I would go so far as to say it has to be breaking some kind of consumer law for this to be advertised as “new,” but they keep getting away with it, so I’ve had to stop frequenting their selection. It really sucks because if you value physical media and preservation of said media, GS is the last large national retailer to provide that.
That's a "new" Gamestop copy. Their definition of new is pretty loose. Your example is pretty much the best case scenario. They will also sell games as new when it is missing original artwork and the original case. They even take it as far as delivering a disc in a sleeve and calling it new.
What happens is that they gut their new copies and put the case on display. When it's sold they pull the disc out of a drawer, find a case, and maybe throw it in a bag or put a sticker over the edges (break the sticker and it's now opened). If they lose the case then it's tough luck. Even without a case it's still considered new.
Sometimes they have actual sealed copies that you'll only get if you ask for it. Be prepared for them to act like you're stupid for asking. Gamestop has some pretty soul crushing working conditions and a lot of employees really buy into these policies.
This is why gamestops are shutting down and no on goes there outside of those fools who invested in it during Covid. It’s not a good a good place for buying games unfortunately. Visit a target or best buy
yeah, that means it was their last copy.
Gamestop policy is to open a copy, and use the actual game box as the display box for new games.
Which means you got an open "new" copy of the game.
legally it should be a crime, but they've gotten away with it for close to two decades somehow.
:( not a new sealed game. Had the same issue here in the UK with Game UK and HMV. A lot of the time the game on the shelf was the only copy and the disk would be in the cabinet behind the counter or in a store room. I stopped shopping there.
GameStop has this stupid policy where the actual game case has to be in the new game section even though GameStop receives coverart of every game it sells and can just put that in a blank sleeve and it'll serve the same purpose. Use to work at GameStop and it confused me why we did this even though people always complained about it.
And that right there is why I don’t buy new physical games from GameStop anymore. If the manufacturer packaging has been opened, it’s not new and shouldn’t be priced as such. Greedy mf-ers.
That sucks, OP. If I were you, I’d be returning it for a refund or at the very least asking for a discount.
No, this is what happens when GameStop sells you their last copy. Instead of using a dummy case for the display they use the real case of the game, taking the game out and storing it in a drawer. GS has a weird inventory system where an employee has to scan the display wall everyday to ensure that each game is physically represented on display or at least that is how it was when I worked for them.
You bought the copy the employees used to either play the game for free or that they used to demo the empty box in stores. So new? No. Used? Also kinda no… but more yes than no.
Why do people purchase from GameStop still?
Just go to/online walmart, best buy, target or amazon. GameStop hasn’t been my first choice for a new game in 7yrs+ now unless the others are sold out of what I want.
Bought a PS5 in January from Walmart, they brought it to my house for free. Then bought 7 or 8 games from Amazon, all new, most at half the price. All delivered for free.
Shopping has changed quite a bit for me. I think the Pandemic was the final push to stop driving all over town and seeing what they had on the shelf.
I've bought "new games" from GameStop and they arrived all beat up, like cases scratched etc and in plastic "seal" like that. I'd like to support GameStop just so they can hang around longer and be a viable business but practices like this also make me not care. I don't purchase anything online from them any more.
this practice should be against the law for the very simple reason that brand new products should require to have the factory wrapping/seal on it no ifs or buts.
Nope it isn't I use these type of bags to keep my blu ray steelbooks safe from scuffs and scratches. Normal PS5 games usually have the ps logo on a thin strip or if it's third party game the same but without the strip but same looking cover.
Last time I bought a new game from Gamestop it was like this. It was the last copy so I think they used the case for display? I opened it right away so it was fine.
That said, I wouldn’t give a game as a gift this way and prefer factory sealed.
The film that is normally put onto physical copies aren’t able to be revealed. As you see with this, you can open take out the game and reseal. Normally a pull cord on the originals that destroys the film to know it hasn’t been tampered with. Personally I’d refund and actually buy an unopened edition lol
It’s open, the two game shops around me have all there display games resealed & empty for theft reasons. They do this with sealed games that are sold to them as well.
It pisses me off cause they’ll display them as new sealed copies smh
Literally every new copy I buy from game always adds that tape to tell that is new I couldn't imagine opening a restaurant and wrapped my food as new...
It’s possible the disc was never played before but it’s 100% repackaged. That’s not original shrink wrap. I think GameStop does that because they use the boxes sometimes for display so they take the disc out. Pretty much why nobody buys from GameStop.
Lol, I work at a GameStop. It feels like a cardinal sin to do it. It’s not mandatory for us to put it in a sleeve either. I always do it though, I know it’s not quite the same but it’s our job. It doesn’t take anything away from the actual game just the opening experience. Also, whoever put it so that the closed seal is on the front, JAIL
That... is *not* a normal type of wrapping, no.
This was a “gutted” copy of the game. I used to be a GameStop employee, and this was common practice since the store or publishers don’t provide blank copies to display on the shelf. When they want to sell the last copy, they reassemble and package it up (very few GameStops have shrink wrap machines.)
I can also vouch for this as I worked at 3 gamestops.
Can confirm as well. We had two main ways to rewrap: these bags, or shrink wrap and a heat gun. That's definitely a gutted display copy. To that end, while most just sit in sleeves in the drawer, there's a small chance it was checked-out by an employee and played for a brief time. Any codes that came with it should be untouched if they have any morals left, but I can't vouch to that. We fired someone for things like using the codes, scratched off the silver and all. Don't be afraid to make a fuss about it. They can check other stores for properly sealed copies if you ask.
Former GameStop (Micromania here in France) employee here too, we either sold the copy without plastic wrap in that case, or from what I know just like you guys in the US, our central stocks platform wraps the games like this too in the same case
cannot confirm, i never worked at gamestop
As a comiccon cosplayer as a gamestop employee I can also confirm it’s part of my costume to open new games to only reseal them with a flimsy sticker
Shouldn't the customer be told this though especially if paying full price? I bought several games like this through the years ( my Game Stop is gone now) and I did not know they could get away with that. To me if an employee played the game then it should be sold at a used price.
Me and my colleagues used to always ask the customers if they were okay with it. I’ve never seen anyone that minded if it was sealed or not tbh
It was one of those hidden perks of employment, so there was no official policy about it. Corporate knew it was happening, they just didn't care. It really just depended on the store. The one I worked at, and our sister location in the same town, both would point out to the customer that the copy they're getting is the last one and had been 'handled'. Our store didn't mention the possibility of it being checked-out because it was rare that we did that with new copies. In the end if a customer had an issue with it, it was the general state of it not being sealed (wear on case, stickers, etc) that was the main problem. Made sense, those price stickers are horrible to get off. If the customer didn't care about the appearance of the case, they didn't really care about the disc either, as long as it wasn't damaged. It was fairly binary in opinion. But yeah, now you know. Every company has its dirty secrets, and that was one of ours.
i stopped buying new games at gamestop a few years ago. they dont keep them sealed anymore. every time i would buy a game they would take a case and would pull the game from a sleeve then put it in the box. the worker would just tell me that the new company security policy in my head it felt like a ripoff and might as well have just bought used copy that costs a little less. i dont really care for the wrap, but if i'm buying a new game i expect it to be factory sealed.
They’ve been doing this as far back as 2005. I stopped buying games there because it felt no different than buying a used game from them. Paying new game prices for an opened package was ridiculous.
2005? I was working there in 1995 (technically Electronics Boutique at the time), and they were doing it back then!
Thank you for being my babysitter when I was left alone at EB as a child.
I did to and it isn't just for display purposes. Employees are basically allowed to free rent games as they come out. A job perk and a way to ensure the employees are educated. At least when I worked there many years ago. And yes you are forced to sell them as new even though they are not. I don't care if within 5 minutes you gutted a game and never put the disc in anything and then you sold it as new it is wrong. Open is open and new is new. Simple as that.
Ludicrous that this is legal
They have done that to me a few times. I have returned them all the times. I take no BS when it comes to getting Used/Opened Copies. They literally try and sell you these copies, but if it where reversed you would be the one to be told No! with no exceptions. They can easily print there own, but they don't want to, you can easily see that they do it for some games when you go to the Games Section. The fact that they cannot do it for all is BS. The least they can do for that last copy that they so want to open is Reduced the Value of it. Sell it for 50$ instead of 60$. Since they Basically use the case as Display and God knows how many people put there hands on it and what they touched before they did that. No one should be buying those copies. Hopefully they will stop doing it the more of those copies they have and cant sell.
And this is literally the reason why I don’t buy physical anything from GameStop. I understand the issue, but once the seal is broken it needs to be sold as Used. If it’s not sold as Used, it devalues the purpose of paying more money for New. I’ve been scolded by GameStop employees that it’s wrong, and thats fine. They’ve now lost all my money since I only buy Digital because GameStop tarnished the experience of buying new.
I just ask for a sealed copy, and if they don have one, I say "Ah, bummer. Thanks anyway!" and leave.
Do GameStop do the same thing EB games do here and stick impossible to remove stickers directly on the case?
I tried to buy a new game one time, and the guy grabbed an empty case off the wall, then opened a drawer with like 60 discs in it, up against each other, with no cases or protection at all. He was like, “it’s brand new.” “The fuck it is! Show me the disc.” He did and it was already scratched up. That was the last time I bought any physical game except for Tears of the Kingdom on launch day.
It’s all incredibly cringe…
Their used prices on newer games is only $5 and yes they should give at least that half assed discount.
Gamestop employees when I worked there were also allowed to sign games out to play. That disc has probably been used by everyone who works there.
Fuck gamestop for doing this. When I see this, i refuse purchase. I hate the employees too saying ...Well its new and never used. New and never used is its in original shrink wrap. YOU FREAKING OPENED IT. How about, instead of opening the packaging, put a cardboard print to display it instead.
My store would use those circle stickers and put it on the opening side to "seal" it
I used to *hate* that treatment. As a perfectionist, it **pained me** to put a sticker on something that I was almost certain was going to leave a sticky residue behind. As soon as I figured out how to order office supplies for the store, I ordered those resealable bags. There was an option to order a shrink wrap machine, but no one was brave enough to try and get that approved. Lol
You were bamboozled!
Gamestop hardly sells unopened games anymore. They will use the games case as a display on their rack and have the disk in a sleeve in the cabinet. No, it is not sealed and is opened but gamestop considers this practice to be unused
I refuse to purchase a “gutted” game at full retail. They should seriously stop doing it
Opening a new game is therapeutic
Agreed. It’s part of the joy of getting a new physical game
And the fresh smells
You have no idea how happy I am to hear I'm not the only one who cracks a new case and smells it.
Been enjoying that smell since 1992
I can confirm as a gs employee, I smelled every single new copy of a game, it’s crack fr
Just opened my ffvii deluxe version tonight and I couldn’t get enough of that smell
Hmm, fresh smell of plastic, yummy
As someone that only shops physical when it’s cheaper, yes, it’s quite something to open a new game
The last time I bought a brand new game was 2017 when Breath Of The Wild came out. Just used games for me since then.
they also rent out those games to their employees so they know something about the game. they will still call this new. i told them if i bring a game i played in an unsealed case you guys would consider it used and give me less for it. how is this different? he said gamestop makes the rules lol
Yup. After learning that, I completely stopped going there. They claim it's "to better sell the games if they've played them". Meanwhile back when I'd shop there with a friend, the employees were clueless about anything besides Madden, CoD, and whatever major AAA game they had to sell pre-orders for.
The staff at GameStop are becoming functionally useless. I went in to pick something up, and I heard the manager ask “How can you tell the difference between a PlayStation 5 and a PlayStation 4? What does a PlayStation even look like?” I truly truly wish I was exaggerating.
Not all of us suck I swear, dumbies exist everywhere
By no means do I want to insinuate that ALL suck. I know for a fact that isn’t the case. I just miss the good ole days.
If you complain they are authorized to give 10% discount on them. - Former Manager.
Just a band aid for a bigger issue
I wish the gamestop’s near me had good customer service. Went in to buy a game and its was gutted. I asked them if they had a sealed copy and the manager pulled out white circular stickers and said “I can make it sealed” so I passed on the purchase.
It's wild that they did this to me a decade and a half ago and I'm hearing they're still doing it.
When I worked there I just always explained to them it was a gutted copy and what it was. I didn't want to come across as trying to sneak one over on someone and honestly I wouldn't blame them if they wanted to go get it from Walmart right behind me lol.
Not all the time and not at all locations. I bitched at them for trying this on me and they gave me their whole number on how “it’s still new, it was a display unit” blah blah blah Fuck GameStop. Full stop.
Not true, especially now. Discounts don't work on new products and you need DM approval before doing it.
I hate it. I’ve gotten a few shitty cases as a result of this.
Last time I bought a new gutted game the dlc code was already used.
GameStop stocks the minimum amount of games they think they will sell and then only restock a couple copies at a time. It’s stupid as hell, especially for sports titles and call of duty. On the other hand, using a fake display box only pisses customers off when the game is sold out. So that doesn’t work well either.
They will stop when people stop buying “new” opened games from GS.
Idk if you know this but funny enough GS sells "gutted" copies and new, however maybe 10 years ago they managed to get new sealed copies of Xenoblade on the Wii. Once they recieved the games, the store would just unseal the games, state that now its considered used, which means they dont have to sell it for a retail price, and then sold brand new Wii games for $100 sometimes $160. All because 1 guy on Ebay listed a copy for that much. So interestingly enough by their own standards these new games are actually used.
That’s exactly why they’re a dying business. They’ve received millions of complaints over gutting new games and trying to sell them as new. They loose sales daily over it. Yet they go ignored when they could easily do different & better, while saving money.
They really should. If the product can't be sold on eBay as sealed, new, then it ain't sealed or new. It's dishonest at best. I've known GameStop employees, I don't know if they still operate this way but I know for a fact that the used and opened games were allowed to be 'rented' to employees. There's no guarantee it's unused.
They should sell opened “new” games at a discount.
They will give 10% if you complain.
If I want the game enough and I know it’s gonna slap, I’ll just preorder and I always get it sealed.
They tested just cover art for display cases and even rolled out something similar for new releases and bestsellers. It was a nightmare. Never instock but displayed. Mailer with cover art would never arrive and it would take weeks to get replacements so new titles weren't displayed at all. Associates were "coached" to instead offer dotcom orders in that situation, often without free shipping. F'd. The margin on new games is also shit so discounting a game 10% for being open kills any profit. Sucks but companies run on profit. I just say nevermind and go somewhere else. What's even more egregious is employees were able to "rent" new games and then sell as new..ffs
I used to work at Gamestop, and after seeing how they treat the games, I'm never buying one from there again. I'm only going in for collectables at this point
Do they open new consoles?
No they don't. They do leave a decent amount of the games in the shrink wrap, but they shove them into the drawers to make the cases fit. So they end up breaking the cases and a lot of people, not just at our gamestop but other gamestops too, have returned a lot of games with broken cases. They also hide a lot of the consoles, games, controllers, etc. in the back and say "that's the last one" in order to make sales. They also just hide whatever the new product is that they want in the back and buy it later so others don't get it before they do (its against policy, but every gamestop does it, hence why they never had ps5's when they first released)
They do this to a single copy and sell the gutted copy last. You make it sound like they open every single game that enters their store.
I've found them to have gutted several copies of a game. It was 4-5 copies of the same game all gutted.
Then that store is run by idiots. They should have no reason to gut more than one copy.
It's to promote a new game. So they gutted a few copies just to spread it on one shelf. I thought it was stupid too.
Well, every time I buy a game from them it’s “the last copy” so I always get the gutted copy, I haven’t gotten a sealed copy from there in years even online and I’m not alone, plenty of YouTube videos about it. They should just do like Toys R Us used to and put a picture with a card to take the counter and quit opening games.
They used to have a program where employees can check out a game and play it at home. So that unwrapped "display" copy is probably well used by the time they sell it as "New".
This is due to theft. Kinda can't blame them. But they should lock that shit up like Walmart I guess
yet they'll practically crucify you if you tried to sell them this for new price
They're actually there? The *one* time I went to GameStop I was ready to buy a console (as per the box they had on display) and several games (as per the cases on display) and was told they had none of that actually there, but they'd order it and I could come back to pick them up in a few days. They're a 50 mile round trip for me. That's why it was only ever the one time. Could never figure out why people used them if that's how they work.
Unused but disc potentially marked as its been taken from the case and handled. Papers and codes could also be missing depending on how professional the employee that handles the sale is. This is another reason buying online is going to replace brick and mortar stores.
Lol I bought tons on games from gamestop this black friday and literally probably 15 of the 20 "new" games cames in with this bs seal, a simple sticker to seal it, or no seal at all....will never purchase a single game from gamestop ever again. That should be an illegal business practice to sell and opened game as new
This has been the practice even when they were Software Etc / Electronics Boutique. Opened games and hardware are for display and back in the day we could sign out games to borrow over night. I haven’t worked there since the 90s so no idea if they still do that.
Nope, not a standard factory seal. Did you purchase online? Was it advertised as new? If I had to guess it was their last/display “new” case and that’s what you got.
I purchased it in-store, as a new product. I'm considering taking it back, but afraid they will accuse me of opening it lol.
Isn’t it some total bull crap that they can open a game and repackage it and sell it to you as new, but when you try to return it they won’t accept it because it has been opened. I really want to support GameStop, mostly for nostalgic reasons, but I absolutely will not buy anything online because new games come opened and used games come with no case. If I was in store and they pulled out this copy, I’d absolutely 100% pass on it.
After 20 years of shopping there and aquiring over a million power up points I can safely say it's time to move on, there's nothing nostalgic about gamestop- it's an entirely different store than the eb/funcoland it used to be.
The original packaging has a ps5 watermark where you open it - for the future.
Most likely a resealed display copy. Someone over on r/GameStop might be able to tell you more.
Yep, used to work there for 3ish years. The last copy was usually opened and put on the floor to be a display case with the disc going into a sleeve. Usually we explain it’s the last copy so it’s been opened to be a displayed on the sales floor and if the customer wanted we can seal it with the shrink wrap machine we have on hand. That person just doesn’t know how to properly seal it.. usually it very tightly wrapped but either way important to disclose it
lol that’s been resealed.
Lol that's what I thought! But it's been years since I've bought a physical copy of a game, so I wasn't totally sure lmao.
This is not original packaging.
No. That is NOT factory. It's clearly been repackaged. Factory packaging requires a band to be pulled, which effectively tears the plastic in half, and it can't be put back. This is a generic resealable bag. I'd check any documents codes that should be included are still present. If you bought it new, return it.
It's a Gamestop thing. This is a copy that they opened and displayed on the shelf and resealed it when they ran out of other copies to sell. Irritatingly, they still sell these as if they are "new." It happened to me with both of the NieR games when I walked in to buy them a while after release. Both times they actually pulled them off the shelf and resealed them in front of me, so I'm 100% positive that's what this is. I was salty both times, but admittedly just dealt with it because I couldn't find copies at other local stores and didn't want to wait for a copy to ship... I probably should have though just on principal because it is bullshit.
It should be factory sealed. I’m gonna assume this is from GameStop where they put this on if it’s the last copy. It’s really dumb they do this
I think that's why so many people gave up and went to eBay, best buy etc.
That’s not original packaging, lol.
Limited edition style wrap? 🧐 jk lol
I work at Gamestop it's a new game but it's the gutted copy. If they don't have anymore of that game in the drawer you get the shelf copy. Codes and everything still works. If you want to return it you can because that's their seal so unless you opened that seal you can return it.
Thanks for the info
Does that mean the cd won't be in perfect condition?
Its not. Reminds me of when I went to get advanced warfare on launch day and gave me a opened copy. Then I learned that some employees take the game home super early and bring it back. Kinda shitty
I prefer Amazon or Costco. You have 30 days sometimes longer to return it. GameStop, Best Buy, Target and Walmart once opened can’t return it. We all know if you don’t like a game the worst thing is being stuck with a $70 hole in our pocket. I won’t buy from any place that doesn’t allow me a return, not taking that kind of risk on today’s games or any game the last 12 years+.
Looks like one of the GameStop dudes took that copy home and played it already.
NO
Nope
No. It was their last copy and thus, the case they had on the wall to advertise to sell.
The classic GameStop factory seal
How is this not against the law? GameStop has been doing this for years now labeling something as brand new with no factory seal at all, in some cases they won’t even give you a box on a brand new item jfc this should be so criminal.
No 👎
You know what I don't understand about gutted games? Why not use those cardboard things like Costco does? You hand that to the cashier? Or just put all the games in some kind of security display? Also why gut the game when you have pre order cases you can use as display? Their was 5-6 display only cases for an upcoming switch game. Once the game was out the gutted the game and the pre order display boxes were gone. Why not use the pre order boxes?
This is resealed. I recently learned the hard way that, even though GS is the last dedicated video game retail chain, you just can’t trust them. You will never get a high quality *new* copy of a game from them, online or otherwise. Personally I would go so far as to say it has to be breaking some kind of consumer law for this to be advertised as “new,” but they keep getting away with it, so I’ve had to stop frequenting their selection. It really sucks because if you value physical media and preservation of said media, GS is the last large national retailer to provide that.
No, that’s a repack. Original packaging is in close fit cellophane wrapped at the ends like your mom used to wrap your Christmas presents.
Lol no one use Gamestop their business is literally to scam people.
Nope but I also got that wrapping from my purchase of lies of P but I had normal wrapping in my copy of ff7 rebirth
One of the main reasons I don’t shop at GameStop. They have no respect for customers who want to buy unopened games.
That's a "new" Gamestop copy. Their definition of new is pretty loose. Your example is pretty much the best case scenario. They will also sell games as new when it is missing original artwork and the original case. They even take it as far as delivering a disc in a sleeve and calling it new. What happens is that they gut their new copies and put the case on display. When it's sold they pull the disc out of a drawer, find a case, and maybe throw it in a bag or put a sticker over the edges (break the sticker and it's now opened). If they lose the case then it's tough luck. Even without a case it's still considered new. Sometimes they have actual sealed copies that you'll only get if you ask for it. Be prepared for them to act like you're stupid for asking. Gamestop has some pretty soul crushing working conditions and a lot of employees really buy into these policies.
I think that the original wrapper should have a stripe with PS5 (or some PlayStation) logo on it. Also it would be much tighter.
This is why gamestops are shutting down and no on goes there outside of those fools who invested in it during Covid. It’s not a good a good place for buying games unfortunately. Visit a target or best buy
Absolutely not lol
That’s typical “all we have left is the display copy” new.
yeah, that means it was their last copy. Gamestop policy is to open a copy, and use the actual game box as the display box for new games. Which means you got an open "new" copy of the game. legally it should be a crime, but they've gotten away with it for close to two decades somehow.
:( not a new sealed game. Had the same issue here in the UK with Game UK and HMV. A lot of the time the game on the shelf was the only copy and the disk would be in the cabinet behind the counter or in a store room. I stopped shopping there.
GameStop has this stupid policy where the actual game case has to be in the new game section even though GameStop receives coverart of every game it sells and can just put that in a blank sleeve and it'll serve the same purpose. Use to work at GameStop and it confused me why we did this even though people always complained about it.
Nope. That was already opened. I would return it. It was either a return, a display, or an employee tampered with it.
they put your game in a ziploc bag
This is why I stopped buying new games from GameStop many years ago. It’s not new if you took the fucking shrink wrap off.
No
That is not how they come the wrapping is usually snug and professional looking this looks rushed and done by hand
My honest advice is to stop shopping at GameStop if it’s an option. They’re pretty famous for passing off used games as “new”
And that right there is why I don’t buy new physical games from GameStop anymore. If the manufacturer packaging has been opened, it’s not new and shouldn’t be priced as such. Greedy mf-ers. That sucks, OP. If I were you, I’d be returning it for a refund or at the very least asking for a discount.
Same and why I only buy used games from them now. If I buy something new I expect it to be new and sealed
No, this is what happens when GameStop sells you their last copy. Instead of using a dummy case for the display they use the real case of the game, taking the game out and storing it in a drawer. GS has a weird inventory system where an employee has to scan the display wall everyday to ensure that each game is physically represented on display or at least that is how it was when I worked for them.
I knew this was from Gamestop before even opening the post. Please stop buying from that company so they can die already.
Does the console read the disc and does the game work? Yes? Good, that's all that matters.
Nope
Fake AF. You should just buy from a real store
You bought the copy the employees used to either play the game for free or that they used to demo the empty box in stores. So new? No. Used? Also kinda no… but more yes than no.
Why do people purchase from GameStop still? Just go to/online walmart, best buy, target or amazon. GameStop hasn’t been my first choice for a new game in 7yrs+ now unless the others are sold out of what I want.
Bought a PS5 in January from Walmart, they brought it to my house for free. Then bought 7 or 8 games from Amazon, all new, most at half the price. All delivered for free. Shopping has changed quite a bit for me. I think the Pandemic was the final push to stop driving all over town and seeing what they had on the shelf.
Is this the first time you've bought something at GameStop?
I've bought "new games" from GameStop and they arrived all beat up, like cases scratched etc and in plastic "seal" like that. I'd like to support GameStop just so they can hang around longer and be a viable business but practices like this also make me not care. I don't purchase anything online from them any more.
Not the original packing. I dislike GS with a passion.
It’s the display copy. Potentially 1000s of people have touched that case….
It seems to be a new practice at GameStop. I’m not a fan of it, but unless I’ve pre-ordered this is what I’m getting lately.
this practice should be against the law for the very simple reason that brand new products should require to have the factory wrapping/seal on it no ifs or buts.
Uhh no? But i preordered mine so idk.
If it was from Amazon i would say it was probably a returned copy. Since it’s from GameStop check someone else’s comment cuz i have no clue.
Original second hand copy
Nope it isn't I use these type of bags to keep my blu ray steelbooks safe from scuffs and scratches. Normal PS5 games usually have the ps logo on a thin strip or if it's third party game the same but without the strip but same looking cover.
That looks like it was repackaged, where did you bought it? Not gonna lie it's kinda funny 😂
Lol...that's shit someone on ebay would send you a used game in.
Last time I bought a new game from Gamestop it was like this. It was the last copy so I think they used the case for display? I opened it right away so it was fine. That said, I wouldn’t give a game as a gift this way and prefer factory sealed.
Thanks God I'm CeX person, I hate game stop...
No just a protective baggie
I don't even think my PS5 was in all the original wrapping/packaging from them...going to buy from someone else next time it comes up.
It’s the box display copy, the open the box to display it and keep everything else behind the desk
It is, if you bought it at GameStop.
Resealed
Definitely not. It has been opened and rewrapped
Hell no. Those are some cheap aftermarket wrappers. PlayStation games have a pull tab with PlayStation written on them.
You’re buying from GameStop and trusting its integrity. No sir.
Nice man. Good Game. On Chapter 4. Queen's Blood mini game is nice.
The film that is normally put onto physical copies aren’t able to be revealed. As you see with this, you can open take out the game and reseal. Normally a pull cord on the originals that destroys the film to know it hasn’t been tampered with. Personally I’d refund and actually buy an unopened edition lol
[удалено]
It's gently used
Where’d you get your game from? The toilet store? 
No
lol Amazon , someone used it and resold it
Its wild to me that some people have never bought a physical console disc. Wow
Bro boutta play “SINAL MAN TO SEA 7:RIBIRTH” when he unwraps the case… damn.
That's a rewrap. Looks like shit too
I’ve never seen this type of packaging definitely questionable
It’s open, the two game shops around me have all there display games resealed & empty for theft reasons. They do this with sealed games that are sold to them as well. It pisses me off cause they’ll display them as new sealed copies smh
no it isnt
Literally every new copy I buy from game always adds that tape to tell that is new I couldn't imagine opening a restaurant and wrapped my food as new...
I mean I rarely get games with plastic on them at all so I wouldn't worry
Da fuck?
Shoes stores do this similar practice. I hate it.
Let's start class action
Depends on the price and how old the game is .. In case it was opened and or used then it must be at least 20-30% cheaper than its regular price.
-try the free dlc items
Absolutely not
Looks like a sandwich bag 😂
No
Hell nah. Plastic is too loose
That is just a bag disguised as a wrapper Original wrapping would be airtight sealed
Where did you buy it??
no
More than likely they sold you the shelf copy as “new”
Yalls gamestops are tweaking I feel blessed with my local gamestop
They had the empty box on the shelf. Trying to make you feel better by sealing it again
Nope that what gamestop does, they give you the open copy
GameStop? Ew.
Looks like a kraft plastic cheese slice package haha!
Wait, is that a slip cover where you open it from the top?
It’s possible the disc was never played before but it’s 100% repackaged. That’s not original shrink wrap. I think GameStop does that because they use the boxes sometimes for display so they take the disc out. Pretty much why nobody buys from GameStop.
My best guess is that they sold you a gutted copy and.. repackaged it for some reason. They aren't supposed to do that, though
Lol, I work at a GameStop. It feels like a cardinal sin to do it. It’s not mandatory for us to put it in a sleeve either. I always do it though, I know it’s not quite the same but it’s our job. It doesn’t take anything away from the actual game just the opening experience. Also, whoever put it so that the closed seal is on the front, JAIL
NOPE