GameStop stepped into a big controversy earlier this week. The game retailer decided to order its employees to open new copies of the PC version of the new action-RPG Deus Ex Human Revolution and remove a coupon card inside the box. That coupon was provided by the streaming game service OnLive and would have given customers a free version of the game to play on the OnLive service. GameStop felt that action was in conflict with its own upcoming streaming game service. Later GameStop simply removed the PC version of the game from its store shelves and plans to return them to the game"s publisher Square Enix.
These actions have certainly made a lot of GameStop"s customers unhappy but today the retail is trying to make some amends. As Joystiq reports, GameStop is giving people who ordered the PC version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution some compensation for the lost OnLive coupon. The email states, "For your inconvenience, we would like to offer you a free $50 GameStop gift card and a Buy 2 Get 1 Free pre-owned purchase. We want to earn back your trust and confidence in the GameStop experience."
As we reported earlier this week, GameStop is currently testing its own streaming game service with plans to launch the service sometime in 2012. That should put it in direct conflict with OnLive which launched its own streaming game service back in June 2010 and now has well over 100 games in its library. So far OnLive has yet to comment about GameStop"s action.