Silicon Knights Boss Says Used Games Drive Up Prices

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Silicon Knights Boss Says Used Games Drive Up Prices


Silicon Knights chief Denis Dyack says the rise of the preowned games business has actually increased the cost of videogames.

Depending on your perspective, the used games trade is either a godsend or a vicious kick in the junk. Gamers who have ever traded in old games to help pay for new ones tend to be pretty enthusiastic, as do the retailers who benefit from the relatively huge margins afford by preowned sales. Publishers, on the other hand, see no revenues from used game sales and thus take a somewhat dimmer view of the whole thing. But Denis Dyack says that even gamers, the supposed beneficiaries of the business, are ultimately suffering because of it.

Videogames used to have a long tail, he explained, which meant that a game put on the market could maintain decent sales and generate revenues for several years. But the rise of used games effectively destroyed that aspect of the business, meaning that games must now earn the vast majority of their money within the first three months of release, and publishers who might otherwise thrive on relatively flat but steady "recurring revenue" suffer as a result.

"If developers and publishers don't see revenue from that, it's not a matter of, 'Hey, we're trying to increase the price of games to consumers, and we want more,' we're just trying to survive as an industry. If used games continue the way that they are, it's going to cannibalize [the industry], there's not going to be an industry," Dyack told GamesIndustry [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-03-27-pre-owned-increases-cost-of-games-cannibalizes-industry-says-dyack]. "People won't make those kinds of games. So I think that's inflated the price of games, and I think that prices would have come down if there was a longer tail, but there isn't."

I don't think that industry complaints about the negative impact of the preowned games trade are entirely without basis, but I do take issue with some of the anti-used rhetoric that's occasionally tossed around. Dyack's assertion that games have become more expensive is especially off-base: In 1985, Legend of Grimrock [http://www.amazon.com/The-Bards-Tale-Commodore-64/dp/B000B6EBT4/ref=sr_1_11?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1332953499&sr=1-11] goes for 15 bucks, and even less if you preorder.

Dyack did state that he thinks "digital distribution is going to play a big role in things to come" but even at the retail level, new game prices have stayed virtually flat for at least a quarter-century. What other business can say that? Can you remember how much you paid to see Amazon [http://www.amazon.com/The-Terminator-Blu-ray-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/dp/B000F9RB9Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1332953622&sr=8-2].


Permalink
 

Meight08

*Insert Funny Title*
Feb 16, 2011
817
0
0
That actually......
Makes alot of sense i agree on that huge used games stores have destroyed the possibility of slow sellers.
 

Lunar Templar

New member
Sep 20, 2009
8,225
0
0
i saw 'silicon knights' and my first thought was 'so .... a company that makes shitty games is bitching now? good for them, hate see them waste time on making a game of theirs good'

meh, just another dev whining about not getting the cut from a sale they have no claim to
 

Meight08

*Insert Funny Title*
Feb 16, 2011
817
0
0
ForgottenPr0digy said:
rolfwesselius said:
That actually......
Makes alot of sense i agree on that huge used games stores have destroyed the possibility of slow sellers.
yeah he is right about that. Which surprising because most publishers/developers try to demonize used game. Denis Dyack see why average gamers like ourselves buy used games and that digital distributions will help curb used game sales
Yeah online passes and the like are trying to do the same, recreate the revenue stream gamestop stole.
But digital distribution looks like the better solution.
 

Kroxile

New member
Oct 14, 2010
543
0
0
Bullshit.

The only thing that increases the cost of new videogames is greed. Plain, simple, cut, and dried.

When the medium does eventually go to digital distribution publishers will still charge $60+ dollars for their games. It won't matter. Piracy, Used Games, etc are just fall guys that these companies use to justify their greed and piss poor treatment of their customers.
 

Meight08

*Insert Funny Title*
Feb 16, 2011
817
0
0
Lunar Templar said:
i saw 'silicon knights' and my first thought was 'so .... a company that makes shitty games is bitching now? good for them, hate see them waste time on making a game of theirs good'

meh, just another dev whining about not getting the cut from a sale they have no claim to
Did you actually even read it?
He says that syndicated used games sellers like gamestop removed the possibility of long term sellers.
THAT IS A BAD THING.
 

Xanthious

New member
Dec 25, 2008
1,273
0
0
So Mr Dyack believes that if game makers got money they are neither legally or morally entitled to that game prices would drop? There are two options here. The first option is Dan Dyack is a total fucking helmet wearing, mouth breathing, idiot and actually believes the nonsense he's spewing. The second is he's just spouting the same old tired propaganda we've heard over and over. I'd wager the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

The video game industry isn't hurting. It's posting profit increases most any other industry would kill for in the worst economy we've seen since the great depression. So it's rather disingenuous to claim that the industry is hurting in any way shape or form because of used sales or anything else for that matter.

If anything I'd say that consoles thrive largely because of used sales. Just look at what eliminating used sales has done to PC gaming. It's all but barren compared to what it used to be. If you remove used sales from the console market you will be removing a large stream of revenue that goes directly into the sales during those early days of a game's release as people will no longer be able to recycle their old titles as a way of paying for the brand new titles.

The fact of the matter is that the gaming industry is being cannibalized by greed and an unreasonable desire for more and more control over the product far more than it is being cannibalized by used sales. They should stop blaming other people for problems they are bringing on themselves.

Furthermore, even if used sales were to vanish entirely game prices wouldn't go down. Companies aren't going to lower their revenue simply because they are suddenly making more money. Prices would very likely either stay the same or possibly even go up as there would be no alternative.

So fuck Dan Dyack and fuck anyone in the gaming industry that wants to keep bashing used game sales. If they can't appreciate just how good of an industry they are working in then they should find new lines of work. Maybe being jizz moppers would be more up their alley.
 

MrBrightside919

New member
Oct 2, 2008
1,625
0
0
Oh lord...here we go again...

I really have trouble taking Dyack seriously after the two bombs Silicon Knights made, X-men Destiny and Too Human...

All I can say is, if companies expect people to pay full price for a game that only lasts a handful of hours, they need to make something better that justify the price of that game. Tacking on some half assed multiplayer modes and online components don't help either...

A bad game doesn't deserve to have "a long tail" or any "tail" anyways, so why would I ever buy them in the first place, used or new...

...that's my opinion atleast
 

Meight08

*Insert Funny Title*
Feb 16, 2011
817
0
0
Kroxile said:
Bullshit.

The only thing that increases the cost of new videogames is greed. Plain, simple, cut, and dried.

When the medium does eventually go to digital distribution publishers will still charge $60+ dollars for their games. It won't matter. Piracy, Used Games, etc are just fall guys that these companies use to justify their greed and piss poor treatment of their customers.
They still sell games for full price on DD because they are forced to by retailers.
If CD projekt sold the witcher 2 on Gog.com for 40 dollars No store would store the hard copy.
 

Baresark

New member
Dec 19, 2010
3,908
0
0
More talking with very little said. It's just another scapegoat. It's piracy, it's used games, it's people expecting too much from games, it's Gamestop, it's... it's you, you extreme fucking morons. How about you don't invest $20 Million into a game that is 6 hours long with a shitty little tacked on multiplayer experience? Oh wait, you already do that. How about you make a game with some longevity to it? Gaming wouldn't exist as it does today if not for those used game sales. And the companies keep feeding the monster they created by making shitty games.

Also, no one should listen to a guy who's company hasn't made anything worth while in 10 years or so. It's safe to say he is out of tough with reality.

PS. The advertisements as part of the "Captcha" security is fucking stupid.
 

DEAD34345

New member
Aug 18, 2010
1,929
0
0
The poor multi-billion pound games industry is just trying to survive, huh? I think I would be banned for coming up with an appropriate response to that.

Yes, the games industry might get more money if used sales didn't exist, but so what? They'd also get more money if we all just started throwing cash at them, but it's not going to happen. We don't owe them anything, we pay for their products if we think they're worth buying, and then we have the right to sell them on if we want. Once they have sold a game it is no longer theirs, and they are not somehow entitled to the money if it is resold.

I just don't get the people who side with them on this. If you're so bothered by the plight of poor game publishers, why don't you just start mailing cash to them? Don't ruin things for those of us who are still sane.
 

gigastar

Insert one-liner here.
Sep 13, 2010
4,419
0
0
Kroxile said:
Bullshit.

The only thing that increases the cost of new videogames is greed. Plain, simple, cut, and dried.

When the medium does eventually go to digital distribution publishers will still charge $60+ dollars for their games. It won't matter. Piracy, Used Games, etc are just fall guys that these companies use to justify their greed and piss poor treatment of their customers.
Well actually if developers and publishers did get a cut from resales we might see the price come down again.

Though if they stayed the same, everything you said would be justified.
 

Kroxile

New member
Oct 14, 2010
543
0
0
rolfwesselius said:
Kroxile said:
Bullshit.

The only thing that increases the cost of new videogames is greed. Plain, simple, cut, and dried.

When the medium does eventually go to digital distribution publishers will still charge $60+ dollars for their games. It won't matter. Piracy, Used Games, etc are just fall guys that these companies use to justify their greed and piss poor treatment of their customers.
They still sell games for full price on DD because they are forced to by retailers.
If CD projekt sold the witcher 2 on Gog.com for 40 dollars No store would store the hard copy.
Since you seemed to miss the future tense in which I wrote my post let me clarify.

When all games are digital downloads only publishers will still charge obnoxious sums of money. It won't matter.
 

XMark

New member
Jan 25, 2010
1,408
0
0
Used games have always been an option. Now since many of us are buying games digitally with no option to resell, there are actually less reselling options available to us than any time before.

So why are companies starting to complain now, even though things are already tilted in their favour?

My guess is because they've just begun to taste what they can do with DRM and online passes and stuff, and they just want more.
 

TsunamiWombat

New member
Sep 6, 2008
5,870
0
0
MrBrightside919 said:
Oh lord...here we go again...

I really have trouble taking Dyack seriously after the two bombs Silicon Knights made, X-men Destiny and Too Human...
This, my first thought was "why are people listening to this chump?"
 

Baresark

New member
Dec 19, 2010
3,908
0
0
gigastar said:
Kroxile said:
Bullshit.

The only thing that increases the cost of new videogames is greed. Plain, simple, cut, and dried.

When the medium does eventually go to digital distribution publishers will still charge $60+ dollars for their games. It won't matter. Piracy, Used Games, etc are just fall guys that these companies use to justify their greed and piss poor treatment of their customers.
Well actually if developers and publishers did get a cut from resales we might see the price come down again.

Though if they stayed the same, everything you said would be justified.
This excuse was used already. They said that online passes would help fight used games and would keep servers up longer. Which they don't. They won't drop the prices of games. Anyone who thinks they would is just lying to themselves. I almost never buy used games, but I'm all for them because it's used games that benefit the consumer the most. They exist because someone can offer them a product for cheaper with the same experience. To me that says they might sell more new games if the prices were cheaper.
 

Fappy

\[T]/
Jan 4, 2010
12,010
0
41
Country
United States
I like how these arguments consistently neglect to take into account the growth of the demographic. There are a lot more people buying games new now than there were ten years ago.
 

Lunar Templar

New member
Sep 20, 2009
8,225
0
0
rolfwesselius said:
Lunar Templar said:
i saw 'silicon knights' and my first thought was 'so .... a company that makes shitty games is bitching now? good for them, hate see them waste time on making a game of theirs good'

meh, just another dev whining about not getting the cut from a sale they have no claim to
Did you actually even read it?
He says that syndicated used games sellers like gamestop removed the possibility of long term sellers.
THAT IS A BAD THING.
i skimmed it.
well for them its bad, but then again, i pretty much just use steam now, so, i couldn't really care less about what ever lame 'rewording' they wanna use for they're crying over, again, 'not getting a cut of sale they have no claim to'

sides, with all the crap most devs and publishers pull on us, i find it hard to care when they start bitching like this
 

Meight08

*Insert Funny Title*
Feb 16, 2011
817
0
0
Kroxile said:
rolfwesselius said:
Kroxile said:
Bullshit.

The only thing that increases the cost of new videogames is greed. Plain, simple, cut, and dried.

When the medium does eventually go to digital distribution publishers will still charge $60+ dollars for their games. It won't matter. Piracy, Used Games, etc are just fall guys that these companies use to justify their greed and piss poor treatment of their customers.
They still sell games for full price on DD because they are forced to by retailers.
If CD projekt sold the witcher 2 on Gog.com for 40 dollars No store would store the hard copy.
Since you seemed to miss the future tense in which I wrote my post let me clarify.

When all games are digital downloads only publishers will still charge obnoxious sums of money. It won't matter.
But if we go digital only there will be more than just publishers.
Look at how indie games are doing and looking better and improving they will soon probably match AAA games.
If we go DD it will be good for everybody and the publishers will lose purpose.