For years, PC gamers have been able to go down to their local EB Games outlet to exchange their older PC games for store credit. But as of tomorrow, that will change. Calls to local EB Games outlets today confirmed that today is the last day the retail chain will let customers trade in used PC games, which, for your information, must come with the original box, disc, and instruction-manual booklet intact.

　　What was the motivation behind EB Games' policy shift? One thing is certain: It came from the top. "We got an e-mail from our corporate office this morning," a clerk at the Powell Street location in San Francisco told GameSpot. "They told us to stop taking PC games starting tomorrow. We don't know why."

　　However, anyone who has kept up with recent events in the game industry does know the motivation for EB's actions. In April, the company's main rival, GameStop, announced it was acquiring EB for $1.44 billion in cash and stock. After months of review, that merger cleared its final hurdle on October 7, when stockholders for both companies gave their final approval, clearing the way for all EB Games locations to eventually become GameStop branches.

　　Today's policy shift by EB appears to be the first step in the assimilation process, as any PC gamer who's visited a GameStop knows, the retail chain does not deal in used PC games.