Amazon Is Turning Into A Nightmare For Video Game Consumers

Skyler from Informed Pixel says: "Full transparency, we use Amazon affiliate links in an effort to obtain additional website revenue. It can be a great source of income for an independent outlet, but it won't stop us from calling Amazon out on their anti-consumerism practices. Cancelled pre-orders, heavily delayed shipping, and straight up lies have us losing trust in Amazon."

[Eonjay]

Amazon really went from being very good to the worst of the worst in about a year.

[princejb134]

whos really to blame for this though?
the customers is to blame. They have become the google of retail by doing whatever they want because they became to big for their own good
people just became to lazy to even go out to shop anymore, they just want everything delivered to their door step

[RememberThe357]

The problem is the publishers not wanting Amazon to get people expecting $60 games to be $50 games. Amzon has done a bad job dealing with it, but this is on the publishers.

[Seraphim]

It's not that I became so lazy I refused to shop. Personally, for me, it was back in roughly '03 when games I wanted just weren't stocked at Walmart. Shopko was/is anemic when it comes to video games. At that time the only other option was KMart and they were no better than Shopko. So I chose to start ordering at Amazon because I was not only able to get the games I wanted but get them on release date.

As of late I personally haven't had a problem with a Amazon. Though all the games that I've purchased had been pre-ordered for quite some time. So with the exception of The Show '18 I was still able to get all the Sony games that were suddenly not being carried. Until they canned the Prime Discount. And all other games I received w/o issue as well.

I will agree that they have become too big too fast for their own good. Though it was nice to see they finally caved and decided to give all employees $15/hr it's still a pittance of what Bezos is making. Not to say he isn't entitled to his fortune because Amazon has been great. Getting off track a bit.... I think due to their volume of sales was one reason they were probably forced to stop offering the discount as it stood. Since then they have been hit and miss w/ the $10 toward future order from what I've seen. Lately I've been considering alternatives when it comes to getting the games I want when I want them. Walmart accepts pre-orders now for many games and we now have a Meijer in town. But at the end of the day, so far, Amazon still seems like the most reliable source.

[NicSage]

We use Amazon for items that are not available in our small town. We have a small Walmart and that's it when it comes to most things. I hate Amazon but taking a 45-1:30 HR drive to the next town over is a real pain. I do make the drive for big electronic purchases like TVs or my rift headset.

[letsa_go]

Stupid excuse. Mail order businesses have been around for over 100 years. You ever hear of the Sears Catalog?

[rainslacker]

Its hard to blame the consumer for taking advantage of Amazon's deals. Now that they're backing off a lot of what made them so good in the first place, one can decide if they want to keep using them. Personally, I'll probably not use them for too much, as I can shop locally for the same price.

[GenMasterB]

I only agree to that to a point. People like myself that live in rural areas do not have access to a lot of things without driving to a large city which for me would be around 2 hours each way if traffic is good.

I DO support local businesses when I can get what I need local.

[SirenAries]

Thats not it at all prince. thers No mom and pop game stores anymore and gamestops prices are also high. its not about getting out to go shopping, its really about publishers going digital. tax is 5 bucks so actually your spending more in gas and tax for the disc with NO manual and that it runs off hard drive. its pointless. But for amazon to even cut out prime members thats just cold. Digital is the future

[dumahim]

Other than not being able to pre-order most games for most of the year, that was all cleared up once the 20% discount thing was dealt with. Haven't had any other issues besides that. I kind of think they're trying to deal with pressure from the publishers.

[steven83r]

@SirenAries The one thing you're not seeing about digital is that it's never on sale. It can be 3 years old and for some damn reason it's still $60 while physical is in bargain bin. Digital media is a way for publishers to screw over consumers. There is no manufacturing, shipping and stocking cost associated with digital, yet it's the same price as physical. Can you explain? Also i pick up physical for the $3 in fuel because i get the physical game for $10-15 less than digital. I still have GCU for now. After that's gone i will wait for a price drop.

[GnarleySquid]

I have Prime and I've seriously been considering canceling it.

[rdgneoz3]

Free 2 day shipping on things gf and I buy, as well as some prime shows, is why i still have it. Never really got games from them as I use to get games on release day at like 8 PM all the time (and I'd get a text saying it was delivered 30 to 40 min later... to the side door) where I use to live. When you have work early the next day, it's easier to pick it up nearby or download it a few days head of time to enjoy it when you want to.

[Twinblade]

I don't even get my 2 day shipping, most time it takes 3 days.

[GenMasterB]

I agree as I have Prime as well. BUT, their rate increase for Prime to 130 bucks a year really feels like a ripoff to me. $99.00 was a sweet spot that I could justify..

[TFJWM]

@Twinblade I wish it was a day late everytime. That is a free month of prime.

[AnubisG]

I canceled my prime account. There is just no point anymore. I went to Best Buy gamers club but now that is canceled too. I have two GameStops in walking distance from where I live. A little walk is good.

[fiveby9]

I still use Best Buy as my Gamer's club is still valid through Nov 2019. It's been great to get $60 (US) retail games for $47.00 for going on 4 years now. What I will do after GC expires in a year I do not know yet.

[Highlife]

Best but gamers club is actually pretty great. Good alternative

[FunAndGun]

They ended that program unfortunately.

[CyberSentinel]

Likewise, I’ve actually had a cancellation from Amazon on a game I preordered early this year, after E3, and I received a cancellation from Amazon with the excuse of limited stock. However, I was and still am able to preorder the game now, but without the 20% discount I was getting from my original order.

That indicates to me, that it never was a “stock issue”.

I am very seriously considering canceling Amazon in January when my prime sub expires, and just getting all my games and elections from bestbuy.

[Fist4achin]

Well, there's still brick and mortar stores or digital. I know Amazon is convenient, but you can do it.

[Pogoplay]

Oh, I do it alright. I've been purchasing directly from Xbox Live and Playstation Network a lot more as of late. Cut the middle-man out.

It is the rare time I have to use Amazon that led me to writing this piece.

[AnubisG]

You pay the same or sometimes even more for the digital version. So while you "cut the middle man out" you shoot yourself in the foot.

[Pogoplay]

You really don't. If you are a smart shopper, you will know when the sales will start. Two months after Titanfall 2 was released, I picked up Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2, both the "premium" editions for $40 CAD. NHL always goes on sale for half price in November, and most digital platforms have amazing sales.

Just like retail, you have to shop around for the best price. Nowadays, unless I get the game for review or have to review it, I rarely play a game on day one because it will eventually go on sale.

[annoyedgamer]

That is not smart. Once the middleman is gone you end up paying more. Digital costs way more than physical.

[sprinterboy]

Digital most of the time myself, playstation store is normally £5 more expensive than the cheapest place but if you factor in travel cost (fuel and parking) it ends up being cheaper getting it digital tbh.

[Atanasrikard]

I've never paid more for the digital version... not sure where you are buying your games from digitally.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@sprinterboy,

I have mine posted to me (still cheaper with postage included), so physical is cheaper 90% of the time, very rarely is digital cheaper for me, even when it is, it's often only $5 cheaper. But I live in Australia so we tend to get ripped off, especially on Steam (when you convert the sales to aussie dollars, it's not always as great as it initially appears to be).

The Amazon launch here as been disappointing, it wasn't much better than Newegg's Australian debut.

[rainslacker]

The middle man on most games then becomes the console makers, who take 15-20% of the sale for themselves.

[GenMasterB]

What would happen if Sony shut down Their Digital services in 10 years or so?

At least with a Physical copy you might still have a change to still play said game.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@GenMasterB,

One of my friends bought a huge external drive and just downloaded all his digital games for this reason.

[sprinterboy]

Totally agree, I've personally never used amazon lol, my last game purchase was £2 cheaper than anywhere else and that was "argos" of all places. I find tesco, argos, sainsburys etc to be the cheapest places now as long as your buying it day 1 of course then the prices go up

[MrSec84]

Smyths can be pretty good or Base.
Very get a bad wrap for using Yodel, but I've ordered loads from them and usually you can find a 20% off code for your first order, I used mine to get my Switch, Pro Controller l, a bunch of games and a case.

Got lucky getting Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for £29.99 shortly after release at Argos.
Argos have gotten pretty good on their prices lately, especially on PS4 games.

I managed to get the Dishonered DOTO for PS4 at Tesco for £2.50.
Sainsbury's had LA Noire for £9.99.

If you look around you can get some great deals.

[DogJosha]

@Atana if I wanted to play monster hunter world right now on PS4, it would cost me about $30 physically vs $60 digitally. Yeah sure on a rare sale you might get it cheaper, but on a less rare sale I'll get it even cheaper physically. Every time I've seen a game I wanted at a good digital price, I've always managed to knock off $5 to $10 going physical DURING that sale.

[sprinterboy]

$60 for monster hunter wow its £24.99 here uk digital on store and the cheapest I can get assassins creed odyssey is £5 more on the store than retail or online.

Don't get me wrong I still think digital should be cheaper than physical but it's a good compromise without pissing off retail sector who sell the consoles.

[rainslacker]

I don't find retail that inconvienant. Best Buy just because its a pain to get in and out of the shopping center, but the store itself is OK. Otherwise, GameStop is typically a quick in and out, and its fun to browse their stock at times.

[DerekTweed]

For people like myself, I live in the countryside in Germany. I have pretty decent broadband and DHL delivers pretty quickly from amazon prime. There is no Gamestop or anything close to me. If I want to pre-order a game and play on Day One, it has to be digital download. If I want to wait and get it cheaper I'll get it from amazon, a couple of months later.

Edit: And Amazon Germany never had any pre-order discount.

[rainslacker]

I can understand that. I moved out to the country a couple years ago, and its a decent drive to get to anywhere. But I still work in a fairly metropolotan area, and there is a Best Buy and GameStop within a few minutes drive of there.

[wwinterj]

There is also plenty of other online retailers.

[shammgod]

cancelled my prime membership

[Baza]

If you got amazon prime just for new games you wasted your money anyway. That alone doesn’t not warrant the cost of a prime membership. The real benefit of prime is the 2day shipping. Everything else is just perks.

[ThatDudeMunkee]

Actually, it does. @Baza. I saved over 200-300 just in games alone last year and around that this year due to my running a publisher and being a streamer. I gained more than I lost because of the savings. When it to the stuff I want? I've almost gone digital due to ease of access, but there is the occasional "I want this" that pops up and leads me to order stuff, but if that's the case? I just head to the mall about 30 minutes away.

Amazon's anti-consumerism is problematic and does lead me to reconsider even supporting them in any fashion. Especially how they have been hitting us gamers with changes to their policies without so much as a public statement.

[No Way]

@ThatDudeMunkee - Sure, it depends on the amount of games you buy, if you save money... I'd say there are a lot of people who only buy 5 games, or so.. which would save, what.. $50? You would need to buy at least 10 games a year, which is $600.. Not everyone has that kind of money.

[rainslacker]

It did when it was 20% off preorders. Particularly if you preordered enough.

They went back on that, without even bothering to keep it active for those users who paid for the service while it was active. At least Best Buy did the right thing and kept the discount active until one's subscription runs out.

[Smokehouse]

It’s the demand. Every package I get from anywhere is half destroyed because the delivery people have to step on the boxes to to get to the back of their truck. It’s an absolute joke and I will hate the day when brick and mortar gets wiped out for good. The quality of shit is going to drop 10 fold.

[OpenGL]

My first copy of Yakuza Kiwami 2 Steelbook came smashed even though the box it was shipped in was in perfect condition.

[Smokehouse]

Same. I get killer deals with a Best Buy program and I suspect they ship me their outlet stuff because of it. The mildly defective products they sell at discount. Almost every game I get is shaking around in the case but I get it so cheap I don’t care. It’s still BS though.

[Kabaneri]

Amazon is such a massive business, that I feel like the publishers might have threatened legal action since those discounts were hurting their $60 gold standard.

[No Way]

How does that work, anyway? Obviously publishers don't sell the games to Amazon for $60. So, let's say they sell the games to Amazon for $45.. who cares if Amazon sells it for $50, not $60 like other stores. They are the ones losing the $10 profit.

They probably realized how much money they were actually losing.. 1 million people buy it at a $10 discount, that's $10,000,000 they missed out on.

[rainslacker]

I think Amazon wasn't making enough off the discounted price. There isn't that much of a markup on video games for the retailers. Amazon wanted to get a better price, and a couple publishers said no. This is probably on the back of game prices going up on the back end, cutting in even more to the retailers cut.

[LoveSpuds]

Not to mention their tax dodging practices, find me a party in the UK who will take the likes of Amazon to the cleaners and I will vote for them.

[OpenGL]

Jeremy Corbyn's Labour will

[CarlDechance]

"If you’ve followed recent news, Amazon made the decision to remove the Amazon Prime discount, a reason that many held a subscription to Amazon Prime."

For the record, so did Best Buy. I think the margins on games were cut drastically. This is why at times you won't even see games stocked at Amazon at all. Spider-man wasn't available there for a long time before launch. I think it is getting to the point where there just isn't much money to be made by retailers on video games.

[Kabaneri]

Yeah I really doubt Gamestop will exist in 10 years.

[CarlDechance]

Seems pretty obvious doesn't it? Walk into one of their stores now and you see more toys than games!

[AnubisG]

People said the same thing 10 years ago. They are still here.

[rainslacker]

To Best Buy's credit, they at least kept the discount active until someone's subscription expired. Amazon should have done the same thing. They'd lose out for a year, but they wouldn't have gone back on their marketing. I wouldn't doubt that some sort of lawsuit is incoming, and at some point, anyone that pre-ordered a game will be given a free month of Prime, or a $10 credit, or some other such nonsense.

[Kingoftherodeo]

not enough people got hooked on BestBuy. they decided to stick with walmart or gamestop since bestbuy hardly ever did midnight release. those 2k sports people,cod,bf, destiny want their games on release date. when your competitor stops giving a discount why should you continue to give a discount? they were mostly just matching bestbuy

[Sm00thNinja]

Definitely not sure who to turn to for my video games anymore. Amazon would still be my go to but there run isn't any incentive to preorder through them and half the time my packages come with minor cosmetic damage when I could just walk into a retailer and buy my games with no compromises. Once my current prime preorders go through I'll probably slink back to gamestop

[ZeroToleranceX]

Wait for Target to do Buy 3 get 1 free (or each for $30 off)

[Sm00thNinja]

They still do those?

[rainslacker]

I've been shopping at GameStop more lately. The store close to me is actually pretty good. Lots of nice used games too, without a bunch of the filler that tends to get in the way. Usually a good variety of new games too, and so far, I haven't had them try to sell me an open copy as new, and they don't pester me about pre-orders.

[CrimsonWing69]

not only that but those stupid bubble envelope packaging for games is a joke. 7/10 times my box is crushed if it's a collector's edition.

[Kumakai]

my personal experience w/ amazon is as follows: ordered the ps4 pro. it arrived on release day. ordered the one X scorpio edition, it arrived on release day. everything else i buy digital and have had 0 problems. just one of the many reasons i don't like physical media anymore.

[CarlDechance]

Half of that was actually relevant. Nice job

[BlaqMagiq1]

Umm... That doesn't make any sense but okay.

[AnubisG]

You haven't given a single reason why you don't like physical media. In fact, you gave two reasons why, according to you, amazon is good. That is all you did.

[InklingGirl]

@ Silly Mammo, MoshA and Eonjay - I only used the reference because it's a well know topic and relevant to what a company does when they are on top plus it's gaming related. I don't wish to start a system war just wished to say something that most people could relate to and for record Microsoft is guilty of this as well. No company is perfect but in the way of gaming I support the big three and have issues with their practices in some way or another.

[Shikoku]

I got games a couple times but they are cutting commerical free twitch prime, they are ending the 20% discount jacking up the price and yeah I can see how or why people would be unhappy. Im thinking of cancelling myself.

[UNCHARTED2FANATIC]

Funny how few people are complaining about this. People buying games elsewhere and giving reviews great reviews on Amazon..like God of war. I had to cancel spiderman from them because at the last few days i noticed they switched it from the US copy to the EU

[TheDriz]

Everything amazon has gotten bad. My orders only show up on time about 50% of the time and their customer service is so bad on the entry level that I have to ask for a manager almost every time.

[rainslacker]

The only problem I've really had with them is the shipping itself. I don't mind if something is late, because now I get rural mail delivery so that is a problem at times, but they can't pack their games well anymore, and they become damaged too often. Regular games are OK, but collector's editions were always damaged. When they stopped the 20% off CE's for prime members, I stopped ordering from them, and just went to GameStop, because if they're damaged, I don't have to pay for it then go through the process of sending it back damaged. But i haven't had a single one damaged from GS.

With them removing the 20% discount, I just have my past pre-orders still on order, and sometimes I'll buy a game if its cheap, or I'm looking for something that is hard to find somewhere else. Sometimes they do have some good discounts on games, but they tend to be older games.

[BlaqMagiq1]

4 years ago Amazon used to be great. Used to order from them all the time. Now I rarely order from them. You're punished for being a non-Prime member by locking you out of some of their purchases. Then they downgraded the Prime membership. Scumbag moves methinks.

[Kostche]

there are plenty other sites to use, shopto, zavvi, base, people can choose where they shop, stop giving the business to Amazon

[Moe-Gunz]

I always get my games earlier. Stick to brick and mortar stores around NY.

[Kyizen]

I always got my games in timw from Amazon. What is annoying is not that they took the 20% discount away from prime but that some games have the 10 dollar gift card and some dont like RDR2. They know it is going to sell do they dont care....

[trooper_]

Idk, I never really had issues with Amazon.

[1nsomniac]

Haven’t used amazon in over a year. Their shipping & customer service is just the worst!

The conversations you can have with them are just embarrassing. Sometimes you’ve genuinely got to ask them if there’s someone more intelligent you can speak to & no one likes being that guy but you genuinely have to worry about them sometimes. I think most of the time it must be on purpose. It’s got to be surely!

[Einhander1971]

I never buy my games from amazon.

[Kitt92]

Ever had any of these issues with amazon stay Iin the uk

[bestofthebest]

Amazon has made me stop buying physical versions of games I have went all digital and it’s so much better not having to do disc swaps and just looking at my library and pressing play. Thanks amazon for opening my eyes to the digital age.

[Casepb]

I still get my games on the release date with Prime.

[cell989]

damn, gonna have to finally make a best buy online account and start preodering from there, sucks cause i do love the convenience of amazon prime

[Skankinruby]

As I only buy digital this has zero effect on me. Amazon is a life source for me I get everything but food through them

[conanlifts]

In Australia Amazon are frequently putting incorrect descriptions on their video games. Often this means the description lists content such as that contained in the special editions.When they pick up on their errors they change the description. This is fine, except they do not email those who have preordered the game base on the original description. If you contact them about it they do not care and simply say " as you are now aware of the description change you are free to cancel your order".

[jjb1981]

I don't really shop Amazon for games anymore. I have Fallout 76 still on preorder for $50 but I'll be getting my other games elsewhere.

[SaiyanFury]

I stopped preording games from Amazon a while ago. Out of 3 preorders, they screwed up 2 of them. The first was Skyrim SE on PS4. I preordered the game so as to have it arrive on launch day. They shipped it 3 days later, and it didn't arrive until after the following weekend. The third preorder, I ordered Yakuza Kiwami for PS4, again, to have it arrive on launch day. This time, I waited over a week, and it never shipped. I'm never preordering games off of Amazon again. Complain about Gamestop all you like, but at least GS has the blasted games in stock on launch day for you to buy.

[RizBiz]

I've never had a problem with Amazon. They're the best online store I've ever dealt with.

[Ethereal]

I have been experiencing interest stuff as well regarding their gaming offerings. Needless to say I will likely not renew my subscription to prime next year.

[Kingoftherodeo]

gamers can take the blame on this. majority of them relied on GameStop for way too long until they got fed up and went with Amazon. amazon was being kept in check by BestBuy Gamersclub but not many gamers saw how much of a better value it was over GameStop or Amazon. BestBuy got rid of their program so Amazon didn't feel the need to give you a discount.

[Cobra951]

I don't know the reason why they removed the Prime discount. But I do know how I shop for anything, games included. First, I don't pay anyone a yearly fee for the privilege of being their customer. Me being their customer is actually a benefit to them, not a burden. (They should pay me a yearly fee, in the form of percentage points on what I've spent on their goods, perhaps.) Second, I shop around for best price. If Amazon's price to me (including shipping) is higher than other outlets' because I don't pay for Prime, then they don't get the sale. Simple as that. I'm sure others feel the same way. If Amazon's prices stop being competitive for non-Prime customers, their sales will drop enough to hurt. So they have to walk a bit of a tightrope here, and I can easily see that leading to at least a reduction of the Prime discount.

[bamillington]

you cant buy anything without prime such a con. i refuse to buy anything from there..

[stefd75]

is this just in the US ? as i am in the UK and never once had an issue with Amazon and I must order 2 to 4 games a month

[Pogoplay]

I'm the author of this article and I'm from Canada. We have our own Amazon in Canada. From what I can tell, this is mainly happening in North America.

[Good-Smurf]

As an international buyer,Amazon are terrible place to shop for video game,I tried shopping for a PS3 game years ago and shipping was horrendous.
Nowadays I only buy something there if I don't have a choice.

[jinjojuice]

Never had a problem with Amazon prime get most items delivered next day, some even come the same day if ordered in the morning.

[SirenAries]

i know it sucks man. No 20% prime discount, tons of fake just launched sellers, insane spiked prices for consoles even for prime members. this 10 dollar one month later credit BS is a slap in the face. I got soul caliber 6 for 41.99 and thats the last game im buying through them. they used to be great.

[howiewowwee]

meanwhile their stock value is waaaaaay up. wish i would've bought a few thousand shares 15 years ago.

[Nodoze]

They are too big and now feel they are untouchable. It is the Walmart effect. Destroy all local businesses by offering crazy low prices. Once they are gone cut corners and put PROFIT above all else...even if we screw the consumer.

It seems now that almost every product I receive from them is damaged due to shoddy packaging (they don't place sealed air bags or anything in the boxes anymore to cut cost and maximize profit). I purposely shifted all gaming purchases to Best Buy due to their gamers club, (unfortunately that went away). It is nice to have a local storefront to visit if needed. Also the packages I receive from BB.com are better packaged... it seems like they were packed by someone who cares. Amazon does not. I am dropping Prime and scaling way back on my purchases through them.

[Pantz]

I stick to digital sales and stock up on digital points when those go on discount for double savings. For anything physical I go through Best Buy, also, during their sales.

[chris235]

who in the right mind is still buying physical copies in 2018?

[Sokol]

I haven't bothered with retail stores for about two years now. With every wekeend discounts i find great prices in games digitally.

[subtenko]

buy digital on your console.

[MIDNIITE_Z3RO]

Most of the issues the writer is expressing concern over are pertaining to pre-ordering. STOP PRE-ORDERING!!!! All the trinkets and extra cosmetic items and loot boxes you get with pre-ordering aren't worth it. I keep telling people this, but people keep pre-ordering and end up having situations like what this guy has experienced. I pre-ordered something once, from Gamestop, several years ago. The one and only time I've ever pre-ordered something. Went back to get it, and they said they couldn't find my pre-order. Even though I had a receipt. Luckily I was only out 5 bucks. But that's when I learned my lesson.