GameStop promises it won't interfere with game development
It's understandable if the news of retail giant GameStop getting in on game development made you nervous. The potential of a store with vested interest in exclusive content dictating what goes into a game from its inception is more than a little frightening. It turns out those fears, however, may have been unfounded. Company CEO Paul Raines recently told Time that we won't see the outfit involved with the creative process, nor essentially mandating parts of a main game be blocked off for those who only buy it through his store. "We love to play games, and unlike our competitors all we do is gaming. But we will not be involved in the artistic or creative process. That's not really our domain."
Rather, he says that this would be an extension of what it's doing already: offering superficial exclusive things like liveries or powered-up weapons for games should you be part of its loyalty program, and pre-order a title. "I think the day you see us in the creative side is when you can tell me we've officially lost our minds," Raines says.
The entire interview is pretty interesting even in addition to that. Raines waxes nostalgic about the company's genesis, its Kongregate platform and even goes deep on how the outfit's physical goods focus is shifting to accept the digital future we're inching closer to every day; make sure to check it out.
