The speculation is that Microsoft indeed will not let used games to be played on their upcoming Xbox One console, but Gamestop’s President Tony Bartel seems to think there has been a clear misunderstanding.
“All that Microsoft has said so far is that they’ve designed the Xbox One to enable customers to trade in and resell games,” Bartel said. “That’s what I’m going with at this point. I think there’s additional details they’re going to reveal later on.”
Those ‘additional details’ might have already been revealed. As Wired reported earlier today, the Xbox One will block used games, mandating HDD installations for each game, and a fee for additional profiles to access the game after the first one.
Bartel, however, has a key component of his business rely on sales of used games, and he remains adamant that Microsoft will not block access to used game. “”I think that if you look at [Sony and Microsoft], both of them have come out and said ‘Hey, we’re going to support the transfer of games in trade-in and resale. I think that both of them see the value of that. They understand that consumers put a high value on the ability to transfer games and the ability to get that residual value out of games.”
(Thank you Polygon)