GameStop's next step for preorder exclusives: Getting into a big game's development process

GameStop has made big bucks over the years by promising to deliver exclusive content if you preorder games at its store. Now, it is devising a plan to get even cozier with developers and publishers to help it nab bigger, better, and more important exclusives in the future.

The retailer recently sat down with investment company R.W. Baird to talk about the games industry’s present and future, and Baird analyst Colin Sebastian revealed that the brick-and-mortar chain wants to find ways to give customers more value when they preorder games. GameStop often offers special items and downloadable content when customers reserve big-name releases like Watch Dogs or Call of Duty, and that’s one of the reasons (along with its trade-in and rewards programs) that are helping it gain record market share for software sales on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. In an effort to deliver more attractive exclusives in the future, the company has confirmed to GamesBeat that it is looking to get involved early in the development process of big games — something it does not do now.