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Some members of the game industry are slamming the used-game market, hard.
Free Radical director Steve Ellis told website mcvuk.com, "it isn’t fair that retailers are claiming all of the profits from the sale of second-hand titles, and it is bizarre that our industry tolerates it."
On one hand, we don't get it: We sell our second hand rowing machines and socks at a bi-weekly yard-sale, so why can't we do the same with games? Plus we love walking into a game store and snapping up the cheapest, most-lowdown "videogames that time forgot" for a song... but on the other hand...
“I can’t imagine going into PC World and buying a pre-owned copy of MS Office. It just wouldn’t happen," Ellis said. "The logical conclusion of this – the retailers’ ultimate goal – is that they only ever sell one original copy of any game and then they pass it around between everyone who wants to play it, keeping all of the profit for themselves except for that initial sale."
Frontier Developments David Braben added:
“Clearly from the developer and publisher point of view, the second-hand market is a real problem. The shops are essentially defrauding the rest of the industry by this practice, whether they intend it or not. "
Do you buy second hand games? If so, do you think you're hurting the industry? Do you care about hurting the industry?
Free Radical director Steve Ellis told website mcvuk.com, "it isn’t fair that retailers are claiming all of the profits from the sale of second-hand titles, and it is bizarre that our industry tolerates it."
On one hand, we don't get it: We sell our second hand rowing machines and socks at a bi-weekly yard-sale, so why can't we do the same with games? Plus we love walking into a game store and snapping up the cheapest, most-lowdown "videogames that time forgot" for a song... but on the other hand...
“I can’t imagine going into PC World and buying a pre-owned copy of MS Office. It just wouldn’t happen," Ellis said. "The logical conclusion of this – the retailers’ ultimate goal – is that they only ever sell one original copy of any game and then they pass it around between everyone who wants to play it, keeping all of the profit for themselves except for that initial sale."
Frontier Developments David Braben added:
“Clearly from the developer and publisher point of view, the second-hand market is a real problem. The shops are essentially defrauding the rest of the industry by this practice, whether they intend it or not. "
Do you buy second hand games? If so, do you think you're hurting the industry? Do you care about hurting the industry?
