GameStop Looking to Partner With Publishers for Retailer-Exclusive Content

Now here’s some tragic news: Popular games retailer GameStop, who’s system of used game sales has been the subject of controversy for a long time, is looking to get actively involved in game development to provide exclusive experiences to its consumers.

Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst Colin Sebastian spoke to GameStop recently and noted that publishers are “more enthusiastic about partnering with GameStop, for example by offering exclusive content on each major game release, and longer term, future models may include GameStop participating in development with some gameplay exclusive to the retailer.”

Sebastian also stated to Venture Beat that GameStop is looking into “getting involved at the time of game development where there could be some content exclusive to [GameStop] included in the game.”

This was later confirmed by a GameStop representative. “We are working with our [development] partners to build in a longer lead time. And we are working with them to get both physical and digital exclusives for our customers.”

What does that mean? We’ll have to wait to find out but it can’t be anything good.