Alright then Dagok, I'll try to sum up my thoughts and be more clear. If you're going to boycott, boycott. Don't do it half assed
but if you absolutely must break down and buy it, do it on Steam where a big chunk goes to another company. Here's why:
Gamestop orders X copies of MW2 for the PC. People boycott for awhile and they do not sell. Gamestop marks down the price, they sell. Gamestop ordered them at Y price, sold them at Z. Gamestop is not happy with this but ultimately it will have little effect on Activision who might mark down the price in the future to appease the retailer. Accomplishes nothing, hurts the retailers other than Gamestop too assuming people buy copies at other stores who are forced to price match and the end user who was unhappy about the MW2 situation is still unhappy. IW celebrates either way.
If you purchase the title at Steam, the retailer's copies sit there assuming others follow your lead. This makes Gamestop very unhappy, Gamestop bitches to Activision who is forced to address the issue in some shape or form. We have no control over how they do so, that's out of the context of this discussion. They could cancel all PC versions or patch back in dedicated servers or whatever, we all have no idea. Steam takes a decent chunk of the profit. Half-assed boycotter gets his copy, doesn't get his gratification but at least has made some form of statement.
Maybe Activision gets the wrong impression and starts doing digital themselves, maybe not. There's a lot of what if's but its a complicated situation. Obviously the best solution is for a lot of people to just simply not purchase the title at all and convince as many other people as they can to do the same. Unfortunately we live in a world of half-measures so if it's going to be bought, at least buy it where it hurts them more so -something- gets accomplished. Both situations hurt retailers, one less than the other.
It's a shitty situation any way you look at it. Maybe Activision decides PC gaming isn't worth it at all. If so we'll evolve without Call of Duty, it's not a death knell by any means. Ideally people want a compromise because it is a desired title for the platform. The best way to speak is with your wallet, the one true form of consumerism. That failing, at least make some sort of effort to make them recognize you're unhappy as a consumer.
Finally, Call of Duty titles don't really bargain bin in the first place thankfully which makes much of this discussion moot.
Playing: Elden Ring, HZD: FW, Kingdom Rush series
Watching: Severance, The IT Crowd, The Batman