GameStop Wants to Sell Used Digital Games

[major_chaos]

I'm not sure how this would work, but if I could I will finally stop hating digital distribution. My steam library is littered with horrible games that I would love to get some money back on.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

no... no no no no no. this used sales BS is half the reason the games cost so damn much. i mean, why you think pc games are like a 2 3rds of the price of their console counterparts?

WAT?
Many new digital releases on steam cost 60euro, which is the same price as a console game. The only thing that kept PC prices down was the fact that there weren't that many users and in order to sell as many games as possible, they did the only thing they could. Lowered the price.

Now that we have Steam and a ridiculously high number of PC gamer, there is really no reason for them to keep the games prices lower than console games. People are willing to pay for it, they will charge more.

Also, used sales are NOT the reason for high prices. Used sales and piracy are just scapegoats and nothing more.

The only reason game prices are so high is because idiots lead the major publisher and invest several million $ just into marketing. Remember that EA said they need to sell 5 million copies of the Dead Space 3 game at the price of 60$ just to break even.

That's whats wrong with the industry. Not used sales and piracy.
Every industry has a second hand market. Only the game industry keeps complaining and bitching like a 10yo.

 

[Epona]

So your objection is that "it's too easy" to sell back digital games? That's not much of an objection.

Oh and it's not a problem that they don't pay the publishers for used copies, that's how used sales work.

No, my objection is that combination of ease of resale combined with the ability of Steam/Game Stop to store as many copies of every game as necessary means that after a certain point, there will be enough used copies in circulation that if desired every person can buy a used copy instead of a new one. Since there is no difference between the two, every person will buy a used copy instead of a new one.

Since these used copies don't give the developer sales money, that means that they completely stop making money on their game once this point is reached. I don't think it's fair to game developers to only allow them to make money on their game for a month or two before they stop getting a cut of any of it.

For people arguing we won't see any negative effects: Yes. We will, and to a minor degree we're already seeing what happens when the big guys think they're being threatened. They believe that used games are a problem, so things like online passes are created to ensure that used sales don't do as well. But what happens when the online passes can ALSO be sold used? That is not a question I want to see EA, Ubisoft, or anybody else answer.

It's no different than it is with physical copies. Gamestop will buy anything regardless of space and if necessary they will store it in the back or ship it off to another store. Not once has Gamestop said "we have too many copies of XXX". They even buy games that probably won't sell like Kameo.

I don't see a problem with ease, it's easy to buy digital and it should be easy to sell digital. Why shouldn't it go both ways?

I can't believe you are justifying publisher abuse of consumers by blaming used sales. Used sales are a healthy part of any marketplace and if anyone should be punished for anti-consumer practices, it should be the publishers.

 

[Baldr]

This is going to happen: Hackers/Thieves are going used stolen/hacked credit cards(Easier to do online than in Brick and mortar), buy the games new, sell them to Gamestop, which will sell them used. Leaving the Developer/Publishers and Banks to cover the damages.

 

[GAunderrated]

Sorry gamestop but you are about a decade too late. With great steam sales for NEW products, I can get great games for 5-15 bucks and still support the developer. You don't have the ability to compete in an already competitive market. It's not like the consoles where you can overcharge because publishers are charging too much as well. Although I do appreciate this article basically saying that you are experience a decline in profits and are desperately trying to find a way to keep your corrupt business model in the digital era.

 

[TrevHead]

Look folks, everyone seems to be scratching their head about how this could work. The simplest method would be that you buy a digital game new from Gamestop and then sell it back to them. There would be a finite number of used copies available because the product key would be transferred from you to Gamestop to the new customer. Once there are no more used product keys, there are no more used copies.

That would pretty much spell doom for the PC, The PC has it's own retail models from consoles where games can still sell well years after they were first released. That would stop because GameStop would do the same as they do with retail and refuse to buy 6 month old games from publishers because they have enough used stock to see them through.

The traditional AAA retail model just doesn't work anymore, and I would hate for GS to try to bring the same broken model back to PC. PC is getting along just fine without none of that crap.

 

[RandV80]

Look folks, everyone seems to be scratching their head about how this could work. The simplest method would be that you buy a digital game new from Gamestop and then sell it back to them. There would be a finite number of used copies available because the product key would be transferred from you to Gamestop to the new customer. Once there are no more used product keys, there are no more used copies.

That's basically it. You have your list of digitally purchased games, and somehow you 'sell' your license to Gamestop removing it from your list and giving it to them to sell to whoever they please. I see three problems with this however:

1. In order for this to work for Gamestop they're going to need their own wide-spread digital platform. With the competition already strong however between established players like Steam and Gamestop and others trying to get in on it like Origin, that's going to be extremely tough for them.

2. If they can get something going, what publisher is going to want to license their digital games to Gamestop when they're basically planning on taking the profits of half your sales for themselves?

3. So if you're able to sell off the digital license to your game, why the hell would you need Gamestop to work as your middle man? It's one thing to broker a trade between a physical copy of a game, but with a digital game you could work it out yourself with a 5 second google search. Unless they're willing to drop their rates and give you the seller 90-95% of the used sale value there's no need for them.

I gotta say though, what a bunch of assholes. The Steam model has created an absolutely great win-win model for developers and gamers, and now to squeeze more profits out of the industry for themselves in an attempt to stay relevant these clowns want to ruin it all.

 

[Something Amyss]

Hopefully GameStop spends all their money on this and they go bankrupt.

Yeah, just what we need: A premature death of retail.

Gamers: Cutting off their noses to spite their faces since 1983.

 

[Epona]

Look folks, everyone seems to be scratching their head about how this could work. The simplest method would be that you buy a digital game new from Gamestop and then sell it back to them. There would be a finite number of used copies available because the product key would be transferred from you to Gamestop to the new customer. Once there are no more used product keys, there are no more used copies.

That would pretty much spell doom for the PC, The PC has it's own retail models from consoles where games can still sell well years after they were first released. That would stop because GameStop would do the same as they do with retail and refuse to buy 6 month old games from publishers because they have enough used stock to see them through.

The traditional AAA retail model just doesn't work anymore, and I would hate for GS to try to bring the same broken model back to PC. PC is getting along just fine without none of that crap.

If Gamestop did it, then Steam would do it too. I know you didn't address a Gamestop monopoly but I thought I would hit on it anyway.

There is nothing wrong with having used sales for PC. You act like PC used games sales died because they were bad for the market. DRM killed used games sales, nothing else. They could be revived at any time and the PC market would be fine.

The console market has had used game sales all along and they have grown to this huge size because of them. It has already been ruled legal to sell used digital games in Europe, the ball is already rolling and I doubt it will be reversed. It's just a matter of time and Gamestop is trying to get in on the ground level. You can bet that Valve is looking at something similar too.

 

[robert01]

Hopefully GameStop spends all their money on this and they go bankrupt.

Yeah, just what we need: A premature death of retail.

Gamers: Cutting off their noses to spite their faces since 1983.

My issue is with GameStop not the retail market. I don't care how many used game stores there are, how many mom and pop shops there is or any other form of store, GameStop is a terrible company and the sooner they close their doors the better.

 

[weirdee]

It's kind of like trying to put a steam engine on a horse to make it go faster.

 

[GAunderrated]

Hopefully GameStop spends all their money on this and they go bankrupt.

Yeah, just what we need: A premature death of retail.

Gamers: Cutting off their noses to spite their faces since 1983.

Maybe if gamestop was the only retail store but its not. Not only that but Gamestop is the worst priced out of all retail and online stores like amazon/ebay. If gamestop crashed it wouldn't be that big of a loss at all.

 

[Sushewakka]

Uh. No. That's not a difference. That's like saying that an iPhone made today should cost less than one than was made last week because the one made last week has been around longer. If you have two identical products being sold at exactly the same time, logically they should cost the same amount of money. Have you ever been to a store where the shirts were sorted by how recently they were made with the most recent ones being the cheapest?

If you could swap the labels on them and nobody would be able to tell the difference, it's the same product. With used digital products you could literally switch the 'used' and 'new' licenses around and the customer would be completely unable to tell the difference.

If the same store offers the same product at two different prices, only one of those prices points is ever going to be used. And unlike physical copies, there's no risk of breakage or damage, so if the used copy is cheaper by even 1¢, it's a better deal.

So the end result is that if this goes through, Gamestop can potentially sell new digital copies for say $19.99 and used copies for $19.98 and every single possible used copy would still sell first. (assuming customers are not retarded) Given that they make a percentage of the profit on the $19.99 purchase, and ALL the profit on the $19.98 purchase, I think there's something wrong.

THe iPhone made today is probably priced lower than the iPhone made on release, because at release the price was higher. That's the time value. Videogames regularly drop in price after the first months, which in this case will coincide with the availability of used copies. Hence, copies available earlier are priced higher at their original point of availability.
Buying used is no different from waiting for a Steam sale. The difference is that, rather than a specific timeframe, it's a limited amount of copies.

 

[Allthingsspectacular]

How about letting players sell games to each other for store credit and taking a cut for each sale?

 

[TrevHead]

If Gamestop did it, then Steam would do it too. I know you didn't address a Gamestop monopoly but I thought I would hit on it anyway.

There is nothing wrong with having used sales for PC. You act like PC used games sales died because they were bad for the market. DRM killed used games sales, nothing else. They could be revived at any time and the PC market would be fine.

The console market has had used game sales all along and they have grown to this huge size because of them. It has already been ruled legal to sell used digital games in Europe, the ball is already rolling and I doubt it will be reversed. It's just a matter of time and Gamestop is trying to get in on the ground level. You can bet that Valve is looking at something similar too.

I don't know how intemate you are with PC and Steam sales and how games that would be mostly only to be found in the bargin bin as used in a brick and mortar store are able to have massive success when Steam does a sale, used sales would spell doom for that retail model.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/174587/Steam_sales_How_deep_discounts_really_affect_your_games.php

Look at the wealth of indie and mid tier games on PC they are only there due to the current retail model supporting them as they tend to lose the most with traditional retail where only the big hitters retain their RRP after release. While i'm usually pro consumer i'm more than willing to not have used games on PC if it means I can play good quality games that are unique.

As for the EU the law has yet to be worked out, it could just mean that Valve would allow ppl to sell their accounts or allow publishers the right to rebuy the games aslong as they don't resell them. At the end of the day Steam games are locked to Steam so Valve can do what they want as long as its within EU law.

 

[4173]

I can see why GS would want to do this, but that's quite the gamble, that the platforms would not a) do it themselves, more easily and conveniently and/or b) make it hardfor GS to get around DRM-like measues (i.e. linking to a platform, not a user).


I don't see it ending well for them.

 

[Saviordd1]

HOW DOES THIS MAKE SENSE!?!?!?! God damn Gamestop you cwazy.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Well greenmangaming.com is still around and they allow you to sell back your digital purchases, so... I guess it could work.

Ok, everyone arguing like a bunch of completely uninformed goofs in this thread: this guy is the only one who even knows what's going on. I came to point out that it's nearly certain that Green Man Gaming is what they're referring to by "technologies out there in Europe", and I was hoping that as usual half a dozen people had already beat me to it. Nope. One guy.

GMG is a site/online store based in the UK (but which sells to other regions too, including the US) which has been doing exactly this already for a couple years now, and from what I remember hearing recently I think they're the fastest growing European online game store. Some things they sell activate on Steam, which obviously can't be traded in, but with anything that runs entirely through their own service/client you can "sell" it back to them for credit toward buying other games, and it just revokes the license for it from your account. If their client they forced you to use (Capsule) weren't such a nightmare (or at least it was last time I looked into it at some point last year), it'd kind of be an interesting idea, but as it is I don't know anyone who uses GMG as anything other than a way to get stuff that can be activated on Steam when it's cheaper than it is on Steam. They have pretty good pre-order discounts and coupon codes and stuff sometimes.

 

[jklinders]

I don't get this. Are they trying to find a way to circumvent the DRM of digital copies and associated keys to then resell at a barely discounted price. This makes sense with physical copies but digital?

Not for me. I see too much going wrong here to trust this.