In a recent interview with Develop, Blitz’s Andrew Oliver discussed some of the main issues currently plaguing the gaming industry as a whole. While many believe that piracy has been running rampant and is the driving force behind millions of dollars of loss revenue, Oliver believes that one other form of game’s sales is a bigger threat to the industry itself. Oliver is of course talking about the used game market.
“Arguably the bigger problem on consoles now is the trading in of games,” he said.
“I understand why players do this. Games are expensive, and after a few weeks of playing you’ve either beaten it, or got bored of it so trading it back in to help pay for the next seems sensible when people are short of cash.”
Though understanding the reasoning behind the decisions gamers make and completely agreeing with them to an extent, Oliver adds: “money going back up the chain is a fraction of what it was only a few years ago.
“This is a much bigger problem than piracy on the main consoles.”
Whether or not this is true and used games have become more detrimental than piracy is hard to prove. However, with companies like GameStop, eBay and Amazon making so many sales in that very market, it’s hard to argue otherwise. Though Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 saw a ridiculous amount of piracy, it’s safe to say that not many other games run that high in downloads as well.
Do you guys think the used game market is making this much of a dent or no?
The let him buy me a games…Cuz some of the games deserved to be bought when they are already used.
I only purchase used games that are no longer sold as brand new like psone games or old ps2 games, snes, nes etc. All my ps3 games I’ve purchased on day one or when their price has dropped. I assume many people do the same.
i did nodice a lot of my friends pirate or buy used games,
i myself dont just hack the first game i come acros
i rather make a calculated purchase decision(basicly educate myself about the game to see what price its worth, or if at all)
like me, you dont hawe to pirate or buy used games cuz the new copies are 2 expencive, some games are worth twice than what they are being sold for, you just hawe to take some time to educate youreself about a game and if its the game for you,
(that dosent mean you should buy a good reviewed game, cuz review scores this days make litle or no sense)
@Reigen
I agree. Many games don’t deserve the sixty dollar price tag. I also buy few games at full price(I always wait for a price drop). I’ve only purchased 3 games this gen. Killzone 2, Demon’s Souls and God of War III. Good thing my friend lends me every other new game that gets released.
I absolutely believe that the used game marked drains a lot of money from the industry, but from what I know, there is a simple solution.
I was once told by staff at GAME that they required a license from Sony/Nintendo/Microsoft in order to re-sell the games, and that was the reason you couldn’t trade in PC games – there was no single license holder for them to approach in order to get permission.
If this is indeed the case, then it would seem that the simple solution would be for Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo to call time on those licenses and so kill the used game market.
Individual people would still be able to sell their copies directly on sites like eBay, but preventing it from happening on an industrial scale could help direct a lot of cash back into the industry, as more people would need to buy games new in the first place.
I think the used game market isn’t great for the industry, but it’s hardly worse than piracy.
Pirating on console isn’t exactly easy and not something most people know how to do. Everyone knows about used games and where to get them, making them worse and piracy.
@Ryan
I bought Spawn Armageddon for fifty five dollars when it was first released. What a terrible game. I felt robbed. I spent a few weeks saving up for it too. This was before I started reading game reviews. We all get screwed over at least once.
@ Ryan
If someone buys a game brand new and then sells it to you, they’ll earn a profit but the company who created the game will not, unless your seller goes and buys another copy of the game. This is part of what’s called a “money multiplier,” and always buying used games is bad for a gaming market.
I don’t like buying used games at all. I think its actually pretty stupid. I go to trade in my assassin’s creed 2 and guess what eb games/ GameStop offered me? 7 dollars… & god damn dollars for a $70 game that I paid with my own money, and then to think that they would probably sell it for $40
Oh just EFF off! Yeah, granted it’s not the most beneficial for the devs/pubs. but at least someone, somewhere actually bought the game (at least once).
It’s NOT worse than piracy.
Next they’re gonna be saying “prices are not high enough for games – worse than piracy and terrorism”.
More money grubbing words and techniques.
btw, I was telling A.Oliver/the article to “EFF off” and not any poster, lol!
Even i dont like buying Used game. I buy used game only if i miss the game or have a huge backlog to fill, normally i buy all my games in its first release month. although i do sell some of the games, which is contributing to used game market
Resale value is why I don’t tend to buy download games like via Steam.
@Tokyo_GorePolice: Your point?
Maybe they should stop blaming the consumer and reflect on themselves a bit here.
Maybe if they didn’t make just another FPS, Strategy, RPG or what ever game type and actually go outside the box a little.. Maybe just maybe with a little time and effort they will create a game worth holding onto. Or they can shit out games left and right all day long and complain about people trading in their 5 hour campaign game for another 5 hour game with unlimited grind fest online play.
Online is fine, but when the game is all about online it’s replay value is purely limited to a persons will to play the same 5/10 maps over and over.
Trophies, this might be another reason why games don’t sell as much new, people who wouldn’t buy Barbies adventure ever in a million years might see it for 15 bucks used and say FREE TROPHIES!!! Companies look and see X amount of Barbies adventures sold used and now it’s the used game markets fault that they didn’t beat out MW2 in sales.
Economy no matter how broke a person is they still want to have some fun, 65 dollars maybe to steep and 45 dollars might be fine.. Not everyone gets to make games and play games for a living.
Out of all 25+ games I have only a handful I would keep, these are bit hit titles and big hit titles for a reason.
Stop sticking up for companies blaming us for their personal greed, we don’t need any more Microsofts running the world.
@Ryan
Honestly the whole topic depends on an individual’s situation and the game itself. If it’s a game that someone wants, but isn’t worth the full price, then purchasing a used copy is understandable, but waiting for a price drop is better. If they just HAVE to play it but can’t afford it (or are just iffy on whether or not to purchase it), then rent it and purchase it later if they still want it. But some people out there practically or majorly purchase used copies of all the good games, which is bad for the industry.
The reason for this is simple. If you love certain games from certain developers, and wish for those or other developers to continue creating great games, then you need to support them by purchasing the game new (either when it launches or the price drops). Great games aren’t easy nor cheap to make, so if you want more to come then support them. It’s that simple.
@O-EXTRA
Hate to hurt all these spoiled pricks feelings, but when the world economy is in a pinch people are not going to buy a 65 dollar game because it has cellophane on it vs a copy that has a sticker on it for 54 dollars.
What does new vs used offer?
Games have a short value life.
Life is fair? People read books in a book store, and don’t buy it QQ.
They can do something they absolutely hate for a pay check too.
I mean what kind of numbers are they really looking at, some are selling multi-million titles and what was it Mw2 made something like 1 billion, some little guys with meh titles making a big fuss because they want to be rich?
Maybe the CEO makes 100,000 to much, this has been happening for years and years in the movie industry, but it seems that on piracy hurts them.
@Ryan
My point still stands, and you’re not hurting my feelings lol.
@OEXTRA I’m not out to hurt any one persons feelings. >.>
It is a damned if ya’ do damned if you don’t situation for us all, also yeah there are titles out there backed by great developers and yes they need to be supported and more times than not, they are.
LBP did pretty good and created a new genre, a lot of people probably didn’t know what to think at first, I bet you the sales of part 2 blow pt1 out of the water. So where is the support lacking really?
@ Ryan
The good thing about a free market is that you get to choose, as a consumer, what you want to buy. Your points are moot, because they all pertain to individual demographics.
-If a company puts out a similar and/or generic game every year, don’t buy it. Don’t tell them to think outside the box, they’ll just continue to do what’s best for themselves. Stop pretending you’re in some fairytale world where gaming companies are solely put on this planet to serve us.
- Online play is a personal opinion. Replay value of an online game drastically varies from gamer to gamer. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean others feel the exact same way as you.
-Your barbie/Trophy analogy makes no sense in its wording.
-This point about money is another opinion. You use QQ in an example, so I’ll say QQ to people who don’t want to pay 60 dollars.If someone is hurting that much due to the economy, they shouldn’t even be considering buying a game. Feed your family. And 60 dollars is not some magic number companies pulled out of their asses. It’s an average of what a consumer will pay before considering alternative entertainment on a unit elasticity scale. Don’t blame companies, blame your fellow gamers.
-Thanks to companies like Gamestop, you can sell all of those games you don’t think are keepers! Hooray!
-Stop acting like you’re entitled to something you’re not. They make the games, not you, so if they want to encourage you to stop whoring their company buy buying their product without them seeing revenue, they have every right. Microsoft sells consoles that are hindered until you pay a live fee. EA is encouraging gamers to buy their game at full price, nothing higher, and even if you buy the game used after the fact and pay for the online service for the game, it’s still cheaper than the game at the new price. This is not the same thing at all, but I don’t expect the average person to get this.