I have never purchased a used game for my PS3 or my Xbox360, but I HAVE traded games in.
There is a couple of reasons why I don’t buy used games. First of all I usually buy those that I’m interested in at day-one. Many have special editions that I like to collect and some offer pre-order bonuses I like to get. Gaming is my main hobby so I’m always current with the releases, that’s mostly why I buy games at their launch.
Another reason is that I rather NOT save 5€/$ and support the developer rather than GameStop. And yes, I’ve seen people do just that, buy a used game to just save 5 bucks, sure you get the same game and can spend that money on something else, but it would be better to support who made the game rather than a retail chain. Anyway, I doubt the guy was thinking about that and the truth is, GameStop / EB games are a force to be reckoned with, otherwise they wouldn’t get so much exclusive content (they were the only ones to sell white PS3s when I got mine. But that’s another story).
As I said though, I have traded in quite a few games in the past. I love my games collection, I don’t give away games I loved for a few bucks, it doesn’t make sense to me, I like to look at them and remember the funny moments, but note every game is worth keeping and those end up being traded-in.
I admit, sometimes I’ve been dumb, I purchased two copies of Red Faction: Armageddon, for example, because I took for granted they had included the same multiplayer than was featured in Guerrilla… my bad and I ended up with a useless copy.
Other times a game simply ends up not being up to my expectations. Warhammer 40.000 online was, honestly, a huge letdown: the combat and moving feeling was there but all the rest… just so bland, nothing that would make it stand out as a unique experience. I again bought two copies of Assassin’s Creed III because we had loved the previous multiplayer. Assassin’s multiplayer is quite unique but the newest chapter didn’t add anything interesting, on the contrary, I really disliked the new game-mode, there were no news as far as character creation was concerned and they had definitely cut short in terms of customization (quite a step backward compared to Revelations multiplayer).
Modnation Racers, such as awesome game! But the matchmaking was awful, you’d sit there waiting in an empty lobby for minutes, and your buddy would do the same, in another empty lobby… Sticking to racing games; I was thrilled to get Need for Speed: Most Wanted and I was right, the game is awesome, but the online was a joke (really who designed that? It’s almost embarrassing to play). So yet another useless second copy.
Sometimes I do take risks, I got Defiance in the hope to play something cool… and it’s collecting dust, I’ll probably go and trade it in soon enough.
The point is: the fact that I can trade-in the games I ended up not enjoying, means I can buy more and other games, means I can take risks purchasing something that is not Battlefield or Killzone that I know will deliver and that I can more easily support lower-end productions.
The day I won’t be able to re-sell my games, I’ll buy less and I’ll think twice about my every purchase. This is something anyone NOT having a big name on their game covers won’t like.
I understand there’s a loss of revenues on used games, but I believe this is a matter publishers have to manage with retailers, not consumers.
I’ve always thought it would be fair for GameStop to give at least a percentage of the selling price of a used game to the publisher, why should they keep all the money? I agree it’s not fair. GameStop has become a giant because of the used-games business, publishers should go knock at its doors not ours.
But while all these talks about the developers rights and the loss of revenues and so on are fair and just, why are we, as consumers, ignored? I want developers and publishers to be respected, but I want to be respected too, as a gamer and as a consumer.
More than once I’ve felt ripped off by a game that should have been much more. That maybe was full of bugs or simply, undeniably rushed or bland: Brink anyone? Such an awesome potential wasted, and my money wasted with it (on two copies, again).
So before talking about used-game fees and thinks like that, let’s talk about refunds for games that suck. That are delivered with awful bugs, whose matchmaking was coded so badly it takes twenty minutes to play a match with your buddy (listen Ubisoft!) or that simply fell so shortly it’s painful.
For those games, I want my money back, how do we manage this?
I’d be willing to accept a no-used games policy, but then, allow me to play quite a big chunk of the game to see if it’s worth it. If you want my money and want to keep it, prove me I’m getting what I’m paying for. Are publishers ready to take this risk? Is EA ready to do that? Are you Electronic Arts ready to let me try Most Wanted multiplayer fully and let me decide BEFORE I give you 120$?
Developers and publishers should seriously think about this, is the non-used games policy going to do them good? I’m really not sure about that.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
"And yes, I’ve seen people do just that, buy a used game to just save 5 bucks, sure you get the same game and can spend that money on something else, but it would be better to support who made the game rather than a retail chain."
Well have you considered that perhaps some people want to play the game without having to support the developer? I don't like Activision so I tend to buy any game from them that catches my eye as preowned because I do not want them having my business.
There's also the matter of saving money. Yes it's "only" $5 (when the game is still new, mind you, as preowned games could save you as much as $20) but some people like to save money. There's nothing wrong with that.
Lastly, there's GameStop's preowned policies that people want to take advantage of. You can return the game within 7 days for a full refund or exchange. Some people use this as a "rental service" if there are no video game rental stores in the area. Other people use it as security in case the game does not meet their expectations and don't want to be stuck with it. I've purchased games preowned because I was weary and then discovered I truly liked it and went and returned the used copy and bought a new one - but I only do that if there are advantages for buying new, like an online pass or downloadable content, etc. Otherwise, I'll just stick with the preowned copy.
I strongly recommend that before you start calling people out on something you don't believe in, you consider the reasons for doing it. That comment came off as incredibly high-horsey.
I work at GameStop and while I can understand your cynicism, the fact of the matter is, GameStop is a business and like any business, they need to make profits. It's not a big deal and if you aren't a fan, take your business elsewhere. This is one of those things that will never change no matter how much one complains about it.
Furthermore, I used to think the same thing as you illustrated here, but then I got the job at GameStop and my eyes were truly opened as to what goes on behind closed doors. GameStop is NOT the enemy you make them out to be.
It's Capitalism, by definition, isn't it? I mean A company see's a way to make money, people are willing to pay, they go get the money. It's as simple as that. I agree with your stance as I lend games all the time to my brother, but corporations will always, ALWAYS, find a way to raise their bottom line. We just have to become smarter consumers.
I am definitive that this will not happen on a larger scale as 3/4 of the population are sheep, but hey, I'm sure the people in Alabama thought the same about the bus boycotts.
:)
Very nice article and I agree game developers/publishers should get into talks with retailers in regards with the used game market
"I understand there’s a loss of revenues on used games, but I believe this is a matter publishers have to manage with retailers, not consumers."
I disagree with this statement since a retailer is not required to sell on your games, I wouldn't be happy if a publisher sent me an invoice for £5 when I sold my game to a friend for a tenner so it shouldn't really be different for retailers selling on games. Although the poor trade in value they offer compared to how high they sell it for is another issue altogether.
The idea of double dipping kind of sickens me and links in to your later comment about being respected as a consumer.
Publishers would find it difficult trying to double dip a retailer... the retailer would get lawyers to trawl out a myriad of laws and legal precedent which protect their right to sell on used games, and yet as disjointed consumers it is seen as fair game to try get more money from us. And if retailers do have to pay deactivation fees or whatever for xbox one games, this will undoubtedly be passed on to the consumer.
I feel like the recession is making companies desperate to show off the kind of number they would be seeing pre-crash and have forgotten to look after the customer. Consumers in general are guilty of not standing up to these practices but boy does big business take advantage that.