Best Buy Shuts Down One Of The Best Deals In Gaming

Pour one out for Best Buy's Gamers Club Unlocked program, one of the best deals in gaming. According to a leaked memo, the retail giant has shuttered the program. Current customers will still receive their GCU benefits until their subscriptions expire, but no new customers will be able to subscribe.

The Gamers Club Unlocked program gave discounts on nearly all video games sold at Best Buy. A two-year GCU membership used to cost $30, but it offered 20% off all new video games and pre-orders. Members also saved 10% off used games and received an extra 10% in trade-in credit.

The memo reads, "For a variety of reasons, we have decided that our Gamers Club programs will not be accepting new members. This includes both the free Gamers Club membership and Gamers Club Unlocked (GCU). Current members will continue to receive their benefits and we encourage everyone else to use our 'My Best Buy' membership to receive perks, including receiving a $10 reward certificate when pre-ordering select, hot games.

"This afternoon, POS will stop prompting enrollment and employees should no longer offer Gamers Club Unlocked to new customers."

While the company has made no public announcement, numerous Best Buy employees have confirmed the memo is real. Best Buy's GCU page is still live, but it's no longer possible to purchase a membership online. Searching for "Gamers Club Unlocked" on the website now brings you to a page for My Best Buy, the retailer's general rewards program.

This is a bummer for video game deal hunters. If you bought just three $60 games at Best Buy over the span of two years, you'd come out ahead. Buying more games saved you even more money.

Perhaps it's not surprising to see Best Buy close the program, as it must have been a money-losing proposition for the company. Amazon used to offer similar savings to Prime members, giving them 20% off new video games for two weeks after launch. But in August of last year, Amazon limited the program to pre-orders.

Whatever the reasons, people looking for deals on video games in the future will have to look elsewhere.