GameStop Says It's Shut Down a Nintendo Switch 2 Trade-in Exploit That Worked as an 'Infinite Money Glitch'

GameStop has said it has unopen down a loophole that fto its customers rack up store recognition by continually trading successful past rebuying a Nintendo Switch 2 console.

In a connection posted to societal media, GameStop said it had been made alert of a YouTube video boasting of a "GameStop Infinite Money Glitch," and verified that the method had so been possible.

"By purchasing a Nintendo Switch 2 for $414.99 and past instantly trading it backmost successful on with the acquisition of a pre-owned game, a promotional bonus was triggered that accrued the Switch 2 commercialized recognition to $472.50," the institution wrote. As demonstrated by YouTuber RJCmedia, this method could past beryllium repeated implicit and over, perchance earning much than $50 nett successful store recognition each time.

YouTuber RJCmedia claims to person earned hundreds of dollars utilizing the "glitch." Image credit: RJCmedia.

"In short, our strategy concisely valued the pre-owned commercialized much than the caller retail outgo of the console itself, creating a constrictive model wherever customers could repetition this transaction implicit and implicit again to amass infinite commercialized credit," GameStop continued.

"Effective immediately, the glitch has been patched. Trade promotions person been updated to guarantee customers tin nary longer person basal arithmetic into an endless gross stream, and equilibrium has been restored."

While a caller script for the institution to publically discuss, it's worthy putting the full substance into context. Firstly, there's nary proposition this method was being wide utilized — extracurricular of the archetypal video by RJCmedia, there's small grounds the "exploit" was enactment into practice.

In a connection shared with IGN, GameStop said it had been made alert of the video quickly, which besides seems fortunate considering the comparatively tiny size of RJCmedia's YouTube channel.

"Yes, the 'GameStop Infinite Money Glitch' was existent (briefly)," a spokesperson for the institution confirmed via email. "A promo loophole allowed a Nintendo Switch 2 trade-in to transcend its retail price, which is ironic, fixed the net usually tells america our trades suck.

"I tin uncover an anonymous idiosyncratic clued america successful by sending an email to a wholly irrelevant inbox exposing the loophole," the GameStop spokesperson continued. "So if thing this proves we are really checking our IR inbox."

This isn't the archetypal clip GameStop has attempted to crook what seems to beryllium an unfortunate incidental into a cheery societal media infinitesimal (remember the infamous viral Switch 2 stapler snafu, which the institution past turned into a gag and hosted an auction for). This caller incidental besides leans into the ongoing meme that GameStop offers mediocre trade-in worth for wealth (something the concatenation built its caller high-profile 'Trade Anything Day' promotion around, which it besides wide publicized arsenic a spot of fun, adjacent arsenic immoderate employees reported otherwise).

Finally, and astir importantly, this latest substance comes conscionable days aft it emerged that GameStop was reportedly readying to unopen down astir 400 stores, with the nonaccomplishment of galore jobs. But hey, possibly immoderate of those employees utilized the "glitch" to gain immoderate wealth portion they inactive could.

Image credit: RJCmedia.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social