Second Hand game sales killing the industry?
Posted on 30. Aug, 2009 by robdutchmonkey in Games, News
It’s been a long known fact that sales of 2nd hand games come at a huge loss for developers whilst retailers profit heavily, and gamers get a bargain… This is all true, but apparently it’s in such a state that developers see this as killing the industry. well-known and revered game designer David Jaffe got into a heated argument about used game sales over Twitter. Jaffe argued that used game sales drastically hurt game developers, and also proposed a potential solution. David Jaffe posted the following on his Twitter:
“Gamer suffers. IF gamestop cut game makers into the deal, Gamestop could stay in biz much longer than they currently will.”
He also added:
“Used games hurt devs/publishers. Hurt devs/publishers go out of biz or find ways (dig dist; all content only on first sale) to stay in biz.”
In some sense I agree as well as disagree. I agree in the fact that retailers will offer you next to nothing for a game and profit a lot by tripling the amount from what they paid into the hands of the new owner. However, given the fact that 2nd hand sales of games have been going on for ages and the publishers still make great games as well as profits, you have to ask yourself for the motive behind the statements… Truth is, he proposes that developers should get a cut in the profits of 2nd hand game sales…
Now I’m sorry, but this just seems like another way to squeeze out extra profits… Does he not realise that the scale of 2nd hand game sales runs deeper then just retailers, but as well as the general public? How can it be regulated fairly? Maybe it’s time they catch a wake up and see that the fact that 2nd hand game sales are going at such a high rate because of the prices charged for a new game. Lower prices and you’ll see a change in this trend, I can guarantee! I’d rather buy a brand new game if it costed me under R500, but why pay R700 for a game when I can wait a month and get it for half the price. Source
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