In the Kotaku article linked above, Laura Kate Dale pointed out the unintentional irony of the Gamestop slogan “Power to the Players” being shared with a poster that seemingly attacks players for not using their services.
![assassins creed origins gamestop assassins creed origins gamestop](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71YQecQ5NTL._AC_SL1001_.jpg)
If you happened to miss that shitshow, this Mega64 video should catch you up. Earlier this year, news broke out of their “Circle of Life” program, which essentially forced their employees to bolster their used game and pre-order sales, actively discouraging customers from just purchasing a new game, with staff being threatened with dismissal if they don’t reach certain quotas. Gamestop are certainly no strangers to controversy in regards to their business practices. It’s shamelessly aggressive, and sets a dangerous precedent for the marketing of video games as a whole. We’ve been too focused on the looming spectre of Loot Boxes, we forgot about the older problem of pre-order exclusives. While it does say that the mission is a bonus, the connotations are clear: you’re being denied access to something that’s part of the game if you don’t pre-order with Gamestop. Unfortunately, Gamestop’s recent advert about pre-ordering Assassin’s Creed: Origins would have you believe otherwise (credit to Twitter account and Kotaku for reporting on this first). It won’t impact the overall experience in any way, yada yada yada. Often times though, the mission or content is marketed as ancillary, or bonus. At the very least, they offer ineffectual virtual tidbits like cosmetic items that hold no bearing over the game itself, yet at worse they exclude gamers who prefer shopping elsewhere access to missions and weapons.
![assassins creed origins gamestop assassins creed origins gamestop](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lawAAOSwm4tgwoFj/s-l300.png)
Pre-order exclusives are, to put it mildly, a divisive business practice.