Gamestop’s Bundle Bungle
On December 14, 2018 Kingdom Hearts fans were given an answer to a question that had been asked since E3 earlier that year: Is the U.S. getting the Limited Edition Kingdom Hearts 3 PS4 Pro bundle? The answer was yes and, to the excitement of Gamestop investors everywhere, it was only at Gamestop. Power to the Players, right? From the moment of the announcement, to the moment people actually went to pre-order, those choice few hours were the location of the biggest gold rush in recent gaming history. Because even if you went in store to pre-order it, the sales representative was using the same website as everyone else to order it.
Within hours, the news echoed quietly and many were left dejected. Their only option appeared to be the over inflated pricing on eBay or Craigslist. Some even dared to order the bundle from Japan when the Twitter scion of good deals and gaming news, our lord and leakboy savior @Wario64, shared the listing from Amazon.jp that included international shipping. It would be more expensive, but not nearly as much as the listings from 3rd parties in the United States.
Then the emails were sent out. Later accompanied by the tweet.
Due to an error, we oversold on pre-orders for the LE Kingdom Hearts 3 PlayStation 4 Pro and, unfortunately, some orders had to be canceled. Guests who had an order canceled will receive a $25 Gift Coupon. We apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this has caused.— GameStop (@GameStop) January 25, 2019
In 2019, at the most technologically advanced point in human history, something like this has happened. However, it isn’t as cut and dry as a case of “ordered more than could be fulfilled.” This isn’t that a manager at one store took down more pre-orders than a store’s allotment. This isn’t a late-game supply issue not being able to reach the demand. No truck or shipping container accident, hurling hundreds of units into accidental destruction. And a $25 gift card towards your next purchase does nothing to help people deal with the kind of existential dread they must be feeling at this moment.
Gamestop knew exactly how many pre-orders it had and it knew the allotment of how many would go to each store for each customer. And they knew, for absolute certainty, that they did not have enough units long before this weekend, the very weekend before launch on January 29, 2019. (Yes, Axel, I have it memorized) But they chose to wait this long, for reasons I’m sure make a lot of sense. A lot of people get pre-orders in multiple places to make sure they get these limited editions. Except that doesn’t work here. Because Gamestop was successful in becoming the exclusive seller of the Limited Edition PS4 Pro bundle.
In doing so, Gamestop took on the responsibility of delivering their product. Many on Twitter, in response, mentioned receiving two emails confirming their order, the second as recent as last week. Rumors abound on speculating what occurred with some saying Square-Enix only gave Gamestop an estimate, with Gamestop choosing to sell pre-orders on the higher end of the estimated units. If true, that means they knew they might have to cancel pre-orders. But what really grinds the gears of so many fans, is how soon they were notified. Or rather the lack of earlier notification.
Kingdom Hearts fans who want something special to commemorate the triumphant return of their beloved franchise are now forced, only days in advance, to find another copy of the game, and the chances of anything special like the Deluxe Edition, are looking at scarcity. Amazon has sold out of the Deluxe Edition of the PS4 version weeks ago. And at this point, how likely are they to ever pre-order something from Gamestop, much less anywhere else, ever again. Some things aren’t so simple and clean.
