A few days ago, Gamers Nexus released an exposé calling NZXT's gaming PC rental service NZXT Flex a "predatory, evil rental computer scam". This caused quite a stir in online PC gaming communities, and it seems NZXT's taken note, as the company has now issued an official statement about the issue.
In a blog post, NZXT outlines some actions being taken in response, as well as some clarifications about the program. In a YouTube video, NZXT founder and CEO Johnny Hou expands on this and acknowledges the mistakes the company has made, stating, "I want to acknowledge that we messed up."
The problems that Gamers Nexus seemingly identified with the Flex program essentially amounted to a picture of a service that misrepresents products, locks users into an unfair contract and has predatory pricing. For instance, this includes swapping out components for less powerful ones, using the same names for Flex PCs as more powerful non-Flex ones, and showing seemingly misleading or false benchmarks.
At least, this is insofar as the case Gamers Nexus lays out is accurate, and on this front Hou and NZXT have attempted to clarify some potential misconceptions.
Regarding these, NZXT says: "NZXT Flex customers have never experienced a pre-tax subscription price increase and will never experience one unless they decide to switch subscription tiers.
"During the regular course of business, especially during high seasonality moments, the availability of different components requires specification changes, sometimes in real-time. In fact, customers may experience a free upgrade based on changing inventory levels.
"NZXT’s Flex program is a subscription-based gaming PC alternative that does not lock customers into a long-term commitment" and "we have updated the subscriber agreement to ensure each aspect is even clearer."
In the video, Hou also states: "Let me be absolutely clear, we are not in the business of selling your data. Every Flex PC that comes back is fully wiped."
But as well as attempting to clear up some misconceptions, NZXT has recognised the seriousness and legitimacy of at least some of the concerns that were raised. Hou says, "A lot of the issues are very serious and it's really important to us that we address each and every one of them."
In addition to updating the subscriber agreement to make it clearer, the company has taken actions to improve certain things Gamers Nexus criticised. The company states it has "pulled all influencer-led Flex advertising and have instituted a more robust creative review process" because "it is not acceptable for our advertising to communicate things that are not true." It will also be "changing the names of products offered through our Flex subscription, providing a very clear distinction between the two."
Best gaming PC: The top pre-built machines.
Best gaming laptop: Great devices for mobile gaming.
More generally, Hou emphasises that the PC rental service serves a genuine purpose: "I think there's a real use case for it." For example, someone might want to try out streaming without commitment, or someone coming over from console gaming might want to try out PC gaming in general just for a month. And on this point, NZXT clarifies that the Flex program "does not lock customers into a long-term commitment."
While Hou's video acknowledging the issues does seem sincere to my ears, and while some of the clarifications do at least shed light on the company's side of the story, I can't help but feel that some big issues haven't been fully addressed, namely the expensive pricing.
But I suppose one could make the same argument against many rental services: Yes, they're more expensive in the long run, but you're paying a premium to prevent having to pay for whatever it is up-front, in full. I suppose as long as products are represented clearly and accurately, this shouldn't be a problem. Let's just hope the actions NZXT says it's taking will bring more accuracy and clarity to the service and its marketing and advertising.
