One of the inherent advantages of developing for tablets and smartphones is that we don’t really have to deal with brick and mortar distributors. There’s no need to sell copies in bulk to Best Buy, Gamestop, Wal Mart, etc since those who want to play our games can simply log into their respective device’s app store and pick up a copy. Though traditional game publishers are starting to move in this direction, they still maintain deep ties to the physical retailers. That may start to change soon though, and Gamestop has for some reason decided to speed their own demise.

In case you missed the news, Gamestop has confirmed that they are opening new copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and pulling out the free OnLive code that’s packed inside. In a statement Gamestop public relations rep Beth Sharum has claimed that, “Square Enix packed the competitor’s coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull and discard these coupons.” Both Square Enix and OnLive have not offered any comments at this time.

The irony in all this is Gamestop is reliant on game publishers for their survival and now they are spitting in the faces of those same companies. Digital distribution is already the new norm on PCs, with services such as Steam and EA’s newly announced Origin set to deliver pretty much any game on the platform digitally. Publishers have been looking to go the same route with console games ever since Microsoft launched Xbox Live, but the process has been slower since console gamers are more closely tied to their precious discs. Now if the companies that make the games are hearing that distributors are opening them and removing content it may make them hesitant to do business with these outlets. While unlikely Square Enix would be perfectly within their rights to refuse to provide copies of Final Fantasy XII-2 or Tomb Raider to Gamestop, though doing so would likely cost them a significant amount.

It’s not like this act is the only reason publishers are angry either, as they’ve been at odds with the retailer for years over Gamestop’s trade-in policy for used games. Whenever the store buys a used game from customers and then turns around and sells it to someone else they keep every penny of the profit. Publishers have longed bemoaned this practice, but they’ve been unable to stop it. Up until now they’ve grudgingly accepted the arrangement, all the while continuing to research viable ways to sell their games directly to consumers via digital means.

For reasons that are hard to explain beyond jealousy and greed, Gamestop has decided with their latest actions to directly challenge the very companies which provide them with product. Some are calling on publishers to boycott the chain and sell their games elsewhere, but economic factors prevent that. What this will do is further spur developers and publishers to devise viable digital options for downloading their games, moving more and more business away from traditional retailers and back into the creators’ hands. Though the process is already well underway the actions of Gamestop will likely serve to expedite it. In short, the retail giant is doing everything in its power to sign its own death certificate.

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