GameStop Begins Offering In-Store Pre-Sales For PC Game Downloads

Major brick-and-mortar retailer GameStop announced today it will begin pre-selling downloadable PC games in its stores, with Deus Ex: Human Revolution the first title available under the program. GameStop customers can now use in-store credit, GameStop gift cards or any other payment method to pay for Human Revolution in stores, and then download the title immediately when the game launches August 23. The company said the game is "the first of what will soon be many titles to support this new purchase method," which complements other in-store digital offerings. "This is a great illustration of how the digital distribution model and in-store experience really complement one another," said GameStop general manager of digital distribution Steve Nix. "We have seen great success selling DLC for console titles in our stores, so expanding on that model and helping customers discover digitally distributed PC games in stores is a natural fit." To promote the new effort, in-store pre-purchasers for the Human Revolution download will also receive downloadable copies of Deus Ex: Game of the Year Edition and Deus Ex: Invisible War as well as an Explosive Mission DLC pack for the new game and additional PowerUp Rewards points. The announcement comes a few weeks after Gamestop fully integrated the recently purchased Impulse digital distribution platform into its Gamestop.com web store. Such online purchases don't yet accept store credit or gift cards as purchase methods, but the company "anticipate[s] that these payment options will be made available in the future."