Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
Game companies are putting pressure on Sony and Microsoft to do this because they don't seem to realize that a robust used market supports the new market. People frequently trade in games towards a new game that they would not have otherwise bought. This has allowed game makers to keep the prices of new games higher longer than they otherwise could have because people can subsidize new games with their old games. Being able to trade in a game also makes it more valuable to the buyer, which in turn supports the high price of new games.
|
I think the likely result, if this model is applied to all consoles going forwards, is the collapse of dedicated game retail shops. Second hand games are their highest margin products, and with those removed, I doubt they would still be profitable. (If there even are now.)
That would leave supermarkets/mainstream shops selling the current top-10 blockbusters, and everything else relegated to mail-order or digital downloads. Pretty soon it won't be worth producing a physical version of non-blockbuster games, and almost everything will be digital-only, which is just as the publishers prefer it, as they will have absolute price control and can prevent lending and reselling. It also naturally draws people into the digital market, where they can more easily be sold DLC, and eventually all games be vehicles for microtransactions.