After it was revealed that Microsoft was leaving the resale and lending in the hands of publishers, especially in regards to fees being charged, Wedbush Securities’ Michael Pachter and Baird Research senior analyst Colin Sebastian revealed that it was unlikely that they would block used game sales.
As Sebastian noted. “In our view, it is still unlikely that publishers will block used games; however, they may try to extract a retail fee.”
Pachter explained that, “We expect the majority of the large publishers to enable used gaming, at least in the early years of the Xbox One launch. In our view, any publisher that disables used gaming risks a backlash or boycott of its titles by gamers, negatively impacting sales.
And there’s a more revealing fact: publishers who block used game games leave themselves open to opposition from those who won’t. “We continue to believe that the currency generated from used game trade-ins is beneficial for the publishers, as it provides currency available for new game purchases.
“However, many believe that used games sold in proximity to a new game’s release cannibalizes sales of the new title, so we think that some publishers may limit used game trade-ins for a specified period of time following the game’s launch. We expect used gaming to continue to be widespread, to the benefit of GameStop.”
This doesn’t put the Xbox One in the clear regarding privacy concerns of an always-on Kinect, needing to access the internet once a day and much more though.
Source: GamesIndustry International
