Surprise, surprise. GameStop is in the midst of something that has gone terribly for gamers. I
I’m generally not shy about my disdain for that company. But they make it so easy, which is why I don’t understand why The Pokémon Company would partner with them on something like giving out free codes for Shiny Pokémon to gamers.
Sounds like a recipe for disaster.
Pokemon scalpers descended on GameStop quickly—It Didn’t GO Well
Spotted by Kotaku, a TikTok user revealed some of the details of the debacle in a video. Apparently, Gamestop was supposed to be giving out physical codes for free in-store from September 26 to October 15.
You didn’t have to buy a thing. Just pull up, walk in, and ask for it. The codes were supposed to give you either a Shiny Koraidon or Miraidon, the cover legendaries from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Sounds pretty simple. Or at least it should have been.
Here’s the problem: We’re only four days into the promotion, and already, stores are reporting that they are out of codes. Because of course they are. You gave people the opportunity to screw others over in the easiest way possible.
They just had to walk in and get the codes. Why wouldn’t they take advantage of that? Kotaku has noted that the codes are already up on eBay, which isn’t the surprising part.
There are actually two things here that strike me as remarkable. First, these people went out of their way to obtain these codes to scalp them, and they’re not immediately selling them for $400 or something equally outrageous.
And secondly, eBay is still a thing. Wow. The Pokémon Company and Gamestop both should have known better. TPC isn’t new to this, and Gamestop is, well, Gamestop. Hopefully, they will find a better way to do this, as the scalping issue is getting out of hand.
The post GameStop’s Shiny Legendary Pokémon Giveaway Was a Total Disaster appeared first on VICE.
