The Xbox One DRM fiasco happened. Publishers saw what happened to a platform holder when they talked about getting rid of used games. The entire user base turned on them in a way that crippled them. It took MS years to recover from it. It also drove a large amount of their 360 user base right into the arms of their direct competition. Now any talk about taking away used games will be met with a laugh. In other words consumers solved this with their wallets.

Yeah, they protected our... how was that? Oh yes, "rights as gamers". What a nice company, it look for us and try to stop the evil Microsoft! Too bad that those rights costs us 50 dollars per year if we want to play online. Damn, those rights that we deserve as customers are expensive!

As for the topic, used games market has never been a problem. It's just that some companies can't stand the fact that some people can play their games PAYING for them, but without said company being able to see a cent of it. Even if they are swimming in money, they still want more.

Sony saw the backlash and took advantage of that to try and make themselves look better. Had MS idea been more accepted and shown to work, Sony would have jumped on board like any other company. Trying to make a company look like some sort of hero is pretty cringeworthy, they are there to make money, nothing else.

Publishers just make remasters..

This is really cringy to read lol. Good guy Sony is all about the gamers thank you based Sony. 

Was never much of an issue. They just made MS look stupid and gamers ate up that narrative because it appealed to their emotions. 

The market will likely grow bigger again as the fade of this generation dies down and a lot more casual gamers come in.

Used Market really exploded late in the PS2 anad PS3 lifetime.

Used games sell well still.


I bought BF1 for 56 dollars brand new and sold it for 52 dollars after Tax Shipping and Amazon Fees.

Enjoyed a game and only lost 4 Dollars :)

Nintendo let you borrow games too, and criticized Microsoft way before Sony did. And they don't use season passes and don't charge for online, yet.

Credit where credit is due.

Yes... okay Nintendo has always had this idea too, its just MS that wanted to change it.

Still, if Sony hadnt said "we dont support this", both console would today probably be like how MS wanted it.

Publishers saw that online passes didn't work, so they just had to deal with it. The next step would've been what Microsoft tried to pull off with Xbox One, and we can all see how that worked out. Right now it seems publishers are making good profits with microtransactions and games as a sort of a service. Basically publishers have learned how to support games effectively so that people are willing to keep the games and pay even more for them, and the ones that don't stay interested are probably simply a lost cause anyway (for the most part; of course publishers are seeking ways to increase engagement).

What happened? Digital rose.

1. Not only can't you rent or borrow digital games, publishers also get a far bigger cut than they do at retail. 70% digital vs ~50% retail.

2. season passes, dlc's, online only games are common now