Update: Xbox One To Take Cut With Every Pre-Owned Sale

[Gorrath]

hello pc. im glad i have you for many reasons.

That really does not make much sense. The vast majority of PC games do not support used sales at all.

The difference being that there are incentives that you get with PC games that you won't get with this system. The drawbacks will be the same, but the XBone will have none of the benefits. The DRM that is Steam would get just as much hate if not for the benefits the platform also provides. I hated Steam when it was first introduced because it provided no benefit to the consumer. This has vastly changed over the years as more and more consumer-friendly stuff was added. Equating the problems with both platforms is fine, but one should not discount the vast difference in the benefits.

 

[surg3n]

Good move Microsoft - destroy the market that has kept the current generation going for so long.

Good move, encourage anyone who can't afford to pay full price everytime to crack their console and never pay for a game again.

Good move, make sure that every last ounce of revenue can be got from a system that isn't even out yet, on games that aren't even out yet, never mind pre-owned.

Good move, make the margin so insignificant on pre-owned games that you'd have to be a fucking moron to sell a game for what.... less than the retailer will make... less than 10%! - so if you pay $50 for a game, you can sell it for less than $5, which the retailer will then sell for $45, and hand most of that over to Microsoft.

Good move Microsoft - I think the PC gaming industry owes you one.

What I'd like to hear, is how this affects our statutory rights as consumers, and how Microsoft can somehow make the rules (laws) up as they go along, to benefit themselves and nobody else. I care about games, I have every major console - but frankly I'd rather fire up the GameCube than fire up the Microsoft branded lube.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

hello pc. im glad i have you for many reasons.

That really does not make much sense. The vast majority of PC games do not support used sales at all.

Instead, it got sales, which - on the consumer side - has the same effect: Really cheap games.
Also, it is more or less the ONLY thing the PC doesn't support (next to local games, usually but even that is half the time supported in smaller games), so...

All excellent points, however this article is about used sales specifically and in that regard (according to this rumor) Xbox One is better about that than PC games are.

 

[SurfKansas]

So, what's the likelihood of Gamestop either not carrying the XBone, or only stocking it in limitted quantities compared to PS4. (Same for Best Buy and Amazon, both companies that are making much more off of pre-owned sales now then they were at the time of the 360 launch.) If retailers have their profit slashed for the XBone but not the PS4, which platform will retailers be incentivized to stock and promote?

 

[Agente L]

So... Do you know why they call it Xbox one?

Which one of the reasons you want to hear first?

 

[Rule Britannia]

I think I'm going to ignore every bit of information I hear about the Xbox One until Microsoft confirms it at E3 or in a direct address to the consumers. If it's as bad as I hear then I'll apply to join the PC master race.

 

[MiskWisk]

I know that when people say "they shot themselves in the foot" they usually mean a pistol.

Here it seems Microsoft said, "We won't be beaten," and used a damned minigun instead.

 

[SurfKansas]

hello pc. im glad i have you for many reasons.

That really does not make much sense. The vast majority of PC games do not support used sales at all.

The difference being that there are incentives that you get with PC games that you won't get with this system. The drawbacks will be the same, but the XBone will have none of the benefits. The DRM that is Steam would get just as much hate if not for the benefits the platform also provides. I hated Steam when it was first introduced because it provided no benefit to the consumer. This has vastly changed over the years as more and more consumer-friendly stuff was added. Equating the problems with both platforms is fine, but one should not discount the vast difference in the benefits.

The biggest difference in this is seen in price-pointing on games after early-adopted phases. PC games tend to get discounts much quicker. Console games are priced with re-sale in mind. If this system cuts out re-sale, the shelf price new had better be at least 15% - 20% cheaper between XBone and PS4.

 

[Pinkamena]

So tell me, Microsoft... Why would I even want to buy your new console?

 

[omega 616]

Microsoft gambled that Sony would take the same anti-preowned stance this generation. That has to be it. There's no other reason why they would think this would work, except if retailers and consumers had nowhere to turn.

I was honestly thinking the same thing, they had to have made that gamble ... there is fuck all way they didn't think this was going to make gamers happy.

They are business men, they have to know this would rattle cages, which would mean it was a calculated move. Problem is the guy with the calculator thinks he is using a phone.

Unless Sony does the same, microsoft is going to lose a lot of cash! There market share will drop, marketing budget is money down the pan ... so is the R&D, market research, QA etc there is a lot of money being flushed in my opinion.

I think we could be seeing some heads rolling at the start of 2014...

 

[medv4380]

This is going to be so much fun to watch. They're going to have to change the name, but they're MS and can't accept they've made a mistake. The Xboned thing's going to be a nasty anti-marketing campaign that feeds itself. Heck someone already bought an Xboned.com sight and it's clearly an Anti XBox site over the indie gaming.

If the Xbone succeeds I'm abandoning gaming. I'll dust off my old NES and let my kids play that. I won't allow this insanity into my home. I will not be Xboned, and I'm never going to let my kids get used to being Xboned ether. I would rather they never touch a game ever again. If it wasn't for my steel battalion controller I'd be smashing my Original XBox into tiny little pieces right now. I might do it anyways, and mount the controller on the wall in memory of the End of Gaming.

I pray Nintendo isn't seduced to the side of the devils devil. They're already evil enough. They're the fun Devil that just wants your soul. Now if only I could trust Sony not to be planning a defection.

 

[V TheSystem V]

Okay, so what if the account isn't re-adjusted by Microsoft after the trade-in and purchase. There could be a delay or something, it might not be an automatic removal of the product's license on the user's account. Will the person who bought it second hand be able to play it?

Looks like Microsoft are still gonna be doing what Phil Harrison detailed - giving gamers 'permission' to play games.

I do not want to have to trust a computer system with getting a pre-owned game to be playable on my console unless it was proven to be instant, which at this moment in time, I don't believe is the case.

 

[wetfart]

I can see this going to court in the US due to the First-sale Doctrine and Microsoft losing.

 

[Gorrath]

hello pc. im glad i have you for many reasons.

That really does not make much sense. The vast majority of PC games do not support used sales at all.

The difference being that there are incentives that you get with PC games that you won't get with this system. The drawbacks will be the same, but the XBone will have none of the benefits. The DRM that is Steam would get just as much hate if not for the benefits the platform also provides. I hated Steam when it was first introduced because it provided no benefit to the consumer. This has vastly changed over the years as more and more consumer-friendly stuff was added. Equating the problems with both platforms is fine, but one should not discount the vast difference in the benefits.

The biggest difference in this is seen in price-pointing on games after early-adopted phases. PC games tend to get discounts much quicker. Console games are priced with re-sale in mind. If this system cuts out re-sale, the shelf price new had better be at least 15% - 20% cheaper between XBone and PS4.

I honestly don't see this happening. If brand new games on XBone came out at $40, I bet a LOT of people would over look the drawbacks of the system because used sales would be less of a big deal. I just don't see MS being smart enough to make that move. Just as EA admitted that on the one hand, new games at retail were too expensive, and on the other hand refused to do anything about it.

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

Why do games need to fall into this strange, sanctified category wherein the creative body (and Microsoft, because fuck logic) expect to get paid beyond the initial instance of purchase? What other product gets that kind of protection. I may spend years carving a beautiful chair, but after I sell that chair to the initial consumer, I have officially fuck all to do with it. I don't get a cut every time it's resold. If I give my mate my old X-men dVD, he doesn't pay Fox five dollars to watch it. If I sell him a stack of old comics, DC doesn't get a cut. What goddamn voodoo water anointed any given developer or publisher and gave them the right to demand that.

This mentality that games are a persistent service, rather than a product to be bought and sold, is one of the great abominations of consumerism in our particular age.

 

[Jumplion]

I don't really understand why people are freaking out about the mechanics of used game sales, except for perhaps the system check with Azure servers to validate whether you still own the game or not (which the timeframe during which this would occur still hasn't been verified yet).

First off, a maximum used game price of $45 is definitely not terrible, and of course Microsoft is going to take a cut for processing and hosting the Azure service and serial keys. This is an obvious result of the system that they put in place. While it's true that the rumored 10% minimum for retailers involved would indeed suck, I think we're forgetting something that I find quite amazing about the new system.

The publisher gets a cut of used game sales.

While it's true larger publisher's like EA really don't need to be making more money than they already are off of micro-transactions and DLC, smaller publishers could very well thrive under the new system which, hopefully, would mean for money for the studios that develop our favorite games as well.

But you are forgetting that this will only benefit publishers from their Xbone sales, not from the other multiplatform sales. And considering the Used-Game lock down that the Xbone already has, where people would have to pay an extra fee just to use the used game, I doubt this would benefit small publishers in any significant way.

Besides, it says nowhere that the game makers or game publishers get any of the money. If they do, I'd imagine it would be a very small sum. This is clearly designed to get Microsoft more money, and it's a terrible way of doing it.

 

[SecondPrize]

The publisher gets a cut of used game sales.

While it's true larger publisher's like EA really don't need to be making more money than they already are off of micro-transactions and DLC, smaller publishers could very well thrive under the new system which, hopefully, would mean for money for the studios that develop our favorite games as well.

Developers aren't publishers. When a used game is sold, the retailer, microsoft and the publisher will make money. The developer of the game won't make squat. You said hopefully, I know. But it won't happen.

OT This is so bad I kind of wish I didn't already have other reasons not to buy this hot mess so I could go with this one.

Edited for conspiracy- Okay, okay, okay. Guys, I get it. I understand what's going on. Bill Gates... check this. Bill Gates is heavily invested in Sony now. He's taken all his money out of MS and moved it to Sony. It's the only thing which makes sense.

 

[Mumorpuger]

LoL why do people care if gamestop gets bent over on this deal? Its not like they havent been ripping people off for years themselves. Who buys used that much anyway?

This pretty much sums up my thoughts. So I guess I can say "GOOD."

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I'm looking forward to the XB1 since I hit all the checkmarks of their target demographic.

 

[wildstars]

I may have missed something here, but:

How is this not price fixing?

What is the incentive for somebody to sell their old games in this system?

What about the game creators: Do they get a cut of this re-activation fee?

And when did revenue from second hand sales become an issue? I don't think I've every heard Toyota or Ford openly complaining about not getting a cut from used car sales? The same goes for any given book publisher. This sets a dangerous precedence.