Within the gaming industry, everyone and their grandmother is trying to find ways to combat the sale of used games. The reason for this, is because neither Game Developers or Console Developer's see a penny from used game sales to new consumers (estimated that about 30% of a games sales after the first year of release, are used sales that aren’t tracked)
It used to be that most developers wanted to completely ban the sale, or prevent the use of used games via console software. That stance has changed in favor of, "Allow the sale of used games, but force the player to pay an addition on console fee to access most features"... but are there other options?
I have been thinking of that very subject for a little bit now and I think I have a solution.
Why dont Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and other console manufactures, open their own used game options?
Let me give an example, and lets use Sony for as our subject...
Say I buy a PlayStation 4 this holiday season with Driveclub. And I play the crap out of the game until I get bored of it, and for whatever reason - I decide I want to sell it or trade it in. What do I do? Well luckily, my PS4 comes with a built in Swap, Sell or Buy Used Game's app that has several options!!!...
1.) Sell Used Game
2.) Buy Used Game
3.) Trade/Buy used game (trade in a physical copy of a used game for a portion off another used or new game)
4.) User Swap (A Pay-2-Use feature that allows players to swap Physical copies of games for no additional cost, other than the monthly/annual subscription fee to use the feature)
But how would all of this work? Well let’s take a look at it.
1A.) Say I want to straight up sell Driveclub. I would chose, "Sell Used Game" which would bring me to a menu where I would find the game I want to sell. Once I find and select Driveclub, It gives me a value on the game based on how many used copies they have in stock. (More copies -lower price, less copies -higher price) If it's a price I agree with, I agree to the sale and am presented with two Pay options.
-- Option A.) PayPal option. This option provides payment directly to my bank account that I can use on whatever and wherever I want.
-- Option B.) PSN credit + Bonus Option. This option deposits the sale credit directly into my PSN account, but also provides a Bonus Payment or Discount on my next PSN purchase. This option would ensure that the sale money would be eventually be returned to Sony’s and/or developer hands, and also provides the player with an incentive to use this payment option.
Once I have chosen my option, I am asked to ship Driveclub to blah address with a couple of options. 1.) Free shipping where I must wait a few days for a Sony Shipment Box to arrive at my place so I don’t have to pay to ship Driveclub to them. Or Manual Shipping where I would pay whatever local shipping company to ship the box for me. Naturally, Sony has to confirm that the Used Game is in acceptable condition for resale before they provide payment.
2A.) Alternatively, maybe I REALLY want to play Driveclub on my shiny new PS4, but I just cannot afford to purchase a band new copy. I would load up the app and select, "Buy Used Games". NICE! Looks like they just got a copy of Driveclub in - Perfect! From here I would just chose to pay with my PayPal account or use my current PSN balance.
3A.) But lets say I don’t even have enough money to buy used games, what then? Welp, I do have a few PS4 games that I don’t really want/play anymore, so I can trade those in to reduce the price of this Used copy of Driveclub that I have been really wanting to play. Then I would just follow the same procedures as shown in 1A.
4.) The Fourth and final option, is a Pay to Use feature (maybe even a PS+ bonus?) that allows me to trade my game with another player for another game or more, for no additional cost beyond the monthly/yearly payment (Or PS+ subscription) to use the service. Naturally, you would again ship the game first to Sony after the transaction has been accepted by both parties, where the condition of the games from both parties would be examined under a, "Fair trade policy" that would work to uphold and ensure a quality experience to users.
With all of these options, Developer’s and *Enter console manufacturer here* would be making royalties for each used game sold, while also providing an awesome feature for consumer's that would in turn provide a huge PR boost for the given company(s) involved.
As for Used game sales from places like Gamespot, continue to allow consumers to purchase games from these places with all features intact, but upon booting up the game's bought this way, maybe add a message saying something along the lines of,
"We have detected that you are using a previously used copy of this game, and I hope you are enjoying your experience with blah blah blah! We wish to continue to make games that you enjoy but we need your help! yada yada yada." This give's the player the chance to support their favorite developers, and upon doing so, they even gain a discount on their next PSN or XBLA purchase (depending on the console they are using of course, since they are essentially buying the used game twice)
Of course these are just my thoughts, and I am no businessman so I might be way off basis here but I thought I would share my thoughts! What are your on the matter? Would you use a service like this? Do forgive any grammatical errors :P
- Ssliasil
...uhh...ill just put my favorite quote of all time here.
"Welcome to Pain, the second of three...You have dealt the first...now deal with me!!"
