Game UK - Why these guys are ruining your consumer experience on Steam in the UK. - Games

[QUOTE=Vasili;31952183]Just going to remind people of a old link [url]http://www.gamesradar.com/uk-retailers-threaten-to-ban-steam-claim-that-service-is-killing-the-pc-market/[/url] Nov 11, 2010[/QUOTE] [I]Now[/I] I remember why all this seemed uncomfortably plausible when the thread showed up.

By the way, if you're going to use GAME's free Royal Mail 1st Class delivery from now on, you should be advised of the following: [quote]Game have in the last few months switched from using the Royal Mail 1st Class PPI posting to Downstream Access - essentially they went from 1st class to whenever the middleman they're using gives it to us to deliver the final mile. It saves them a few pence, means we make a loss delivering it but that's what we deal with. Back when they used us direct games used to arrive with the customer on or the day before the release date. Now you'll be lucky. The only people you can really complain to are Game for using an inferior product. Maybe enough people telling them so will get it back to how it used to be, just a couple of months ago![/quote] [url]http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24649580&postcount=30[/url] I hate not buying a product/using a service based on principle, but failing to deliver a pre-order game to me on release day is unacceptable. I will find a new retailer to make regular orders to.

[QUOTE=Dr Bob;31959149]By the way, if you're going to use GAME's free Royal Mail 1st Class delivery from now on, you should be advised of the following: [url]http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=24649580&postcount=30[/url] I hate not buying a product/using a service based on principle, but failing to deliver a pre-order game to me on release day is unacceptable. I will find a new retailer to make regular orders to.[/QUOTE] That explains why my copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution didn't show up today. I think I'll be ordering from else where in the future.

[QUOTE=Wiggles;31960073]That explains why my copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution didn't show up today. I think I'll be ordering from else where in the future.[/QUOTE] I ordered mine from Play.com and it didn't arrive today either. They say it was posted on Tuesday though, so no idea what's happened to it.

[QUOTE=jaybuz;31960251]I ordered mine from Play.com and it didn't arrive today either. They say it was posted on Tuesday though, so no idea what's happened to it.[/QUOTE] Your problem there is that Play.com have always been absolutely terrible with delivery. Big items aren't too bad but smaller ones like games always take ages.

[QUOTE=Wiggles;31960555]Your problem there is that Play.com have always been absolutely terrible with delivery. Big items aren't too bad but smaller ones like games always take ages.[/QUOTE] I've ordered a lot of things from play over the years and they've always come between 2 to 3 days.

[QUOTE=Philly c;31960769]I've ordered a lot of things from play over the years and they've always come between 2 to 3 days.[/QUOTE] Then you must be incredibly lucky because I gave up on them last year after several of my orders took over a week to arrive.

imo metro 2033 is the most obvious example that its some sort of deal between thq and game, if it isnt why were game the only retailer to offer the proper preorder dlc?

Wait, how does this work in terms of say, Skyrim? We're unable to download on Steam until X amount of time after the launch, but what about the retail version itself, it's already been confirmed that the game will use SteamWorks. Does that mean they are fully locking us out of the game or will we still be able to activate via Steam? [editline]27th August 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Wiggles;31960555]Your problem there is that Play.com have always been absolutely terrible with delivery. Big items aren't too bad but smaller ones like games always take ages.[/QUOTE] There is also their stupid system of "if you order multiple items, we'll ship them all separately". Fucking dumb.

I dont understand people complaining about the lack of PC Games in retail stores. 1) When was the last time you bought a PC game on the high street? 2) Do you really think it makes sense to give PC games the same amount of shelf and backroom space as console games considering the sales figures? I walked in my local HMV this week and found no PC games in there at all. And I wasnt a bit surprised.

not 100% i dont think i had metro launch day but i think if you have a key you can register it and download. i was going to get skyrim and the new metro from one of those cheap oneline key sites or maybe by vpn that way both steam and game lose out. its fucking ridiculous with steamworks titles the game requires steam but you cant preorder or purchase the game on steam, they should make it so if your game uses steamworks it has to be available in all regions

[QUOTE=LinÂµx;31961084]Wait, how does this work in terms of say, Skyrim? We're unable to download on Steam until X amount of time after the launch, but what about the retail version itself, it's already been confirmed that the game will use SteamWorks. Does that mean they are fully locking us out of the game or will we still be able to activate via Steam? [editline]27th August 2011[/editline] There is also their stupid system of "if you order multiple items, we'll ship them all separately". Fucking dumb.[/QUOTE] There was an issue with Brink on launch where UKers couldn't activate their retail copies on Steam. I'm not sure if this was a hitch with the system at the time or if it was intended.

[QUOTE=wraithcat;31954928]Well the main question here is if retail and DD markets count as seperate or actually the same. I'd say that they would probably be legally the same as both essentially offer the same service and the same laws apply to both. But even if they were seperate markets, if anyone would exert their own market dominance to seriously underman another it would be a breach of monopoly laws. Actually on further consideration it might actually be better if they were counted as seperate markets. Since if DD and Retail count as the same, it's quite possible that game - or whoever else is behind this - could argue that they in fact do not have market dominance and as such cannot be fully in breach of monopoly laws.[/QUOTE] This is why it's such a complicated example. It all depends on the market. Would they consider DD a niche within the overall games market, but a smaller market in itself. Or would they consider it as part of the market as a whole. I think this is a key point to whether or not what they are doing would be in breach of competition laws or not. It's evident that what they are doing is wrong, but whether or not the OFT would feel the need to prosecute would all come down to this. It could boil down to restriction of consumer choice. As mentioned, GAME don't provide adequate sale of PC games so shouldn't gain control on this market, however it's trying to define this to the regulators that could be an issue. The only people that can make that decision are the OFT and Competition Commission. The only reason it might swing in the favour of GAME and the publishers could potentially be the hold Steam appear to have on the downloads market. But then again, GAME have almost a complete monopoly on the high street, with HMV, CeX (sometimes WHSmith) barely holding on. I think the Gamestation - GAME merger should have been investigated further. It's such a thin line to try and judge.

[QUOTE=MasterG;31963074]blah blah blah blah blah blah [editline]273 blah blah 926[/editline] blah blah blah blah blah. [B]..Maybe you get a TF2 hat every time you buy a game at GAME..[/B][/QUOTE] oh god youre a genius

[QUOTE=Niblic;31963285]oh god youre a genius[/QUOTE] Sad truth is, this would probably work :v:

[QUOTE=LinÂµx;31961084]Wait, how does this work in terms of say, Skyrim? We're unable to download on Steam until X amount of time after the launch, but what about the retail version itself, it's already been confirmed that the game will use SteamWorks. Does that mean they are fully locking us out of the game or will we still be able to activate via Steam? [editline]27th August 2011[/editline] There is also their stupid system of "if you order multiple items, we'll ship them all separately". Fucking dumb.[/QUOTE] Skyrim uses Steamworks, so we'll be able to buy it on steam as soon as possible. And there's a chance Game won't stock it because of Steamworks but oh well, it's not like people buy games retail any more. Well, if they do they get them from amazon, because it's the cheapest.

Top result for Steam games on GAME: [url=http://www.game.co.uk/en/team-fortress-2-30258?pageSize=20&searchTerm=Steam games]Free game[/url] for £7.99 anyone? [Quote=GAME] [b]Out of stock[/b] [b]Only[/b] £7.99 [/quote] Oh, it's out of stock. Oh well, it's good to show people what you [b]used[/b] to stock.

[QUOTE='[Solar]Inferno;31971797']Top result for Steam games on GAME: [url=http://www.game.co.uk/en/team-fortress-2-30258?pageSize=20&searchTerm=Steam games]Free game[/url] for £7.99 anyone? Oh, it's out of stock. Oh well, it's good to show people what you [b]used[/b] to stock.[/QUOTE] A purchased version of TF2 comes with a premium account.

[QUOTE=Teddi Orange;31972472]A purchased version of TF2 comes with a premium account.[/QUOTE] Indeed, which would be fine, if they had it in stock, hence the bottom sentence of Post no.238. Also, you need to spend £4.00[Minimum amount of money you can add to your Steam wallet(IIRC)] to become a Premium member on TF2. You need to spend nearly £8.00 to become one if you buy the retail version from GAME.

[QUOTE='[Solar]Inferno;31972672']Indeed, which would be fine, if they had it in stock, hence the bottom sentence of Post no.238. Also, you need to spend £4.00[Minimum amount of money you can add to your Steam wallet(IIRC)] to become a Premium member on TF2. You need to spend nearly £8.00 to become one if you buy the retail version from GAME.[/QUOTE] So? Any retailer could be offering TF2 for that price or lower/higher. Doesn't really incriminate GAME, unfortunately for you.

[QUOTE=Dr Bob;31977105]So? Any retailer could be offering TF2 for that price or lower/higher. Doesn't really incriminate GAME, unfortunately for you.[/QUOTE] The point is that it's out of stock, and most likely won't be in stock again. [b]That[/b] is the argument. The second line was an afternote.

They [b]were[/b] selling APB for full £30 retail for a month or two after the servers shut, if that helps show how Game rolls...

[QUOTE=Terminutter;31987197]They [b]were[/b] selling APB for full £30 retail for a month or two after the servers shut, if that helps show how Game rolls...[/QUOTE] Same here in a plenty of stores, they STILL sell APB in discount baskets.

Thank you for this! I'd always suspected, but never had the truth. [editline]28th August 2011[/editline] Though their denial on the 25th is... interesting.

I can preorder Skyrim on Steam now. Reduced to £34.99 from £39.99. Maybe it was a bug with Steam, or maybe it was something to do with GAME...

Yeah I noticed that too, I was pretty surprised that it's more expensive than sites like Play.com, usually steam is the cheapest. Seeing as it's a steamworks game, I won't buy it direct if it's cheaper from somewhere else.

[QUOTE='[Solar]Inferno;32009565']I can preorder Skyrim on Steam now. Reduced to £34.99 from £39.99. Maybe it was a bug with Steam, or maybe it was something to do with GAME...[/QUOTE] Or you can get it from amazon/play.com for £7 cheaper

Teddi Orange, having read through this entire thread now, I'm not seeing any proof that Game are involved in this. Like at all. Where is your evidence? You've basically said these games aren't on Steam, so it must be Games fault.

[QUOTE='[Solar]Inferno;32009565']I can preorder Skyrim on Steam now. Reduced to £34.99 from £39.99. Maybe it was a bug with Steam, or maybe it was something to do with GAME...[/QUOTE] We should wait until unlock day and see what happens to the game, whether it will disappear for 1-3 months, or will be available to UK Steam store users. Most if not all of the Steamworks games that have disappeared have done when they unlock and were available for preorder, or were just flat out non-existent up until the embargo expired.

[QUOTE=Diluted Dante;32013080]Teddi Orange, having read through this entire thread now, I'm not seeing any proof that Game are involved in this. Like at all. Where is your evidence? You've basically said these games aren't on Steam, so it must be Games fault.[/QUOTE] Causation. Game is the absolutely largest retailer in the UK. These limitations are solely to do with the UK. The games have had no rating issues whatsoever. Steam has a license to operate in the UK. Hence everything points at someone affecting the UK market and since the only one with enough market power to sway publishers is game....