Amazon just announced it is ending its popular 20 percent off video game pre-order discount. The discount will end on August 28. According to Gamespot, the discount was part of the Prime membership.
Amazon is replacing the discount with a new benefit, which gives members a $10 credit for pre-ordering certain games. Amazon has not said which games or how many that will be. Depending on that, this could severely diminish the savings Amazon Prime members have when they buy new games.
Amazon has offered this discount since 2016, allowing Prime members to save money on new video games such as Fortnite, that normally cost $60.
Most members ended up paying around $48. Prime members loved this discount because Video Games don't get discounted for several months after their release.
Amazon is not the only company to no longer offer pre-order discounts
Amazon is not the only company to eliminate this type of discount. Best Buy originally offered a similar deal to its Gamers Club Unlocked program, but the company eventually terminated the program in May. Like Amazon, Best Buy replaced the program with a deal that allows My Best Buy members to save $10 on pre-orders for select games. Currently, the selection is only ten games, meaning these new benefits are less beneficial to gamers.
Amazon also offered the 20 percent deal to Prime members who bought a game within two weeks of the initial launch.
The Verge confirmed that Amazon limited the deal in 2017 to pre-orders only. Amazon later eliminated remasters and re-releases from the deal.
Twitch is also another company that is getting rid of its Amazon Prime benefit of ad-free viewing. Twitch made the announcement saying it will go away on September 14. Twitch sent out an email to its users and said that advertising is a key source of support for creators who keep Twitch thriving.
Twitch also said that the change will grow advertising opportunities for creators, which will help them get more support from viewers.
Amazon's decision is a blow to gamers
Limiting the deal is being met with disappointment from gamers, who have refused to move their purchases to digital stores, which are mainly run by Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony.
Amazon's discount kept the company competitive with GameStop.
According to Amazon, any credits that have come from preorders will expire 60 days after they were applied to Prime accounts and the credit is only good from products sold directly by Amazon or Amazon Digital Service products.