Best Buy Locks Up Popular Gamers Club Initiative

((( I’m a member & have saved so much money with them. I’ll miss this.

That's fine I'll just wait for regular sales. I purchase very few games upon release anyway. I'll just go back to doing things the old way.

I was on the fence on giving this a try, but now that they're quitting it, I'll just stay with my Prime subscription, even though the price is getting higher and higher each year.

That's a shame. I just joined this year and love it.

I'm guessing it won't be long before Amazon phases out the 20% discount for preorders as one of its prime perks as well, especially with the reduced competition now that Best Buy is ditching this program.

Well, after my sub is up in August I'll be done buying new games. Amazon prime dropped the ball way too many times to be reliable. Guess I'll just stick to my backlog!

And the march towards our all digital future continues

I went all digital last year, best decision I made in a long time .

Welp, Amazon Prime it is.

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A shame, I just joined back in October and was saving tons of money, just means I won't be shopping at Best Buy anymore. Amazon doesn't score another win though, at least not in my case. Absolutely no way am I about to pay the asinine price for Amazon Prime so I guess this just means once my Gamers Club membership is up my slow march towards digital-only purchases will be in full effect. PlayStation Plus has had a ton of great deals this gen and even will give discounts on pre-orders sometimes. That's the way to go. Pretty sure MS does the same thing with XBL Gold. If Nintendo starts doing this as well, it may be all over physical purchases.

My membership ends Sept. 6 2019 After that I will pay $59 the same for Physical copies as Digital copies. Why would that make me switch to digital only???

I don't understand this switch to digital. A physical release is the same or even less if you shop around than a digital release at launch. Drops in price faster over time and can be traded back for value which even if it's a small amount is better than nothing at all like on a digital release.

Wow that sucks... well I'm good into the next gen (hoping) 10-7-21. Still sticking with physical regardless.

There are tons of people who became loyal customers because of GCU complaining now...I really don't think Best Buy has a clue how much this decision is going to hurt them.

Understandable. They were using it as a loss leader to get customers in the store. It appears most of the customers bought only the discounted games. I recently let my gamestop pro discount expire and I don't think I will renew that either...Although the recent pro day sales are very tempting.

@get2sammyb Hi there 😁
Hhhmmmmm. The pros of physical still outweigh the convenience of digital. If it was late at night and I had a hankering for game I don't own I'd get some sleep and jump on the bus/ train in the morning and shop around town. If people can't even wait that long then.............well.

@get2sammyb

I'll happily buy digital over physical if it's a big saving like it's in a PSN sale but otherwise it's physical all the way when theirs a choice. The shelves look too good fully stocked with titles lol.

This is pretty disappointing for me, I know I for one will be buying less games at launch, (I already rarely do) and instead will be just waiting for them to go on sale super cheap. I will be taking advantage of this while I still can though.

Unless someone effed up, they aren't honoring a thing! Mine is already disabled, yet my account still says I have it until August 2019.

@Dpishere me too! The allure of saving some money for expensive games. Especially Sony and Nintendo tend to lump games after the other. I saved so much early on this year with just PS4 games alone. The games I took a chance on for 20% off, I probably will not now. PS4 alone killed my wallet with Ni No Kuni, God of War, MLB the Show, Far Cry and Secret of Mana.. saving 20% on all of those was so welcoming.

Video game stores like these are eventually going to be a thing of the past regardless of which offers they offer or don’t in this case. In the UK, GAME is the only major gaming store now with other stores like Grainger Games and GameStation now all closed down. There are quite a few independent gaming stores in local areas around the country but it’s a wonder they haven’t shut up shop already or they at least must be struggling with the rise of digital sales and people ordering online.

I only buy games digital that I know I’ll go back to now and again and if they are massive games such as GTA V and the upcoming RDR 2, otherwise I rent anything else that I’m interested in, it’s the best thing I’ve done, I’ve saved over 6 grand since joining Boomerang 3 years ago. I’m basically saying what I said in another article that buying physical copies are dying out and more people are buying digitally these days, gaming companies will be saving a fortune not having to pay the packaging, disc, logistics and distribution of shipping the games all over the world when it’s much cheaper for them for someone to buy their games with one click of a button over XBL, PSN or whatever.

My sub ended in March, was waiting for a new game to preorder before i reupped on it, and now I'm lost out. No warnings is a really bad move

Well that sucks, but I've been using Amazon Prime for my 20% discount needs.

@thegametb Hmm you may be right, I checked Best Buy and when I check the price for a game the discount doesn't seem to be applied, if they deactivated it already then Best Buy has probably lost a customer in me other than when games go on sale really cheap.

As someone who works for Best Buy, I’m also saddened by this. Made shopping for games super convenient, hah. Regardless, don’t forget that your subscription will keep going until the 2 years are up

After that, maybe I’ll have to get Prime again...

What shame. I pretty much buy all my physical games from Best Buy. I guess I can use Amazon Prime but I don't like preordering.

I miss futureshop.

@Brodders I'm with you I prefer physical and would have all my games in cases if I could. That being said I own a surprising amount of games this generation (over 150 bought, around 250 with plus) and I only have about 40 in cases. I blame those ps store sales....how do you turn down a game for 3-5 dollars? How?

I need to take vacation time just to put a dent in my backlog...

welp I guess I'm stuck with Amazon Prime (and they have a price hike on the way) I'll be done with BB after my sub is up.

Edit: Actually it looks like the website isn't honoring it at all. I guess i got lucky i bought HW on Friday. But if that is the case I'm done with BB. Never shopped there for games until I found out about the club and then I tossed about 1500 to them last year. Oh well.

EDIT Part II: You have to add the game to cart now to see the price change. Sigh.

Wow that sucks! I would purposely avoid Gamestop to get my 20% off. It will no longer matter now! Good thing my renewal is in the early stages so I’ll take advantage while it lasts!!