How Used Game Sales On The Xbox One Will Work [Rumor]
Since the reveal earlier this week, Microsoft’s Xbox One has been the talk of the town. Unfortunately, the news hasn’t been great. One of the biggest concerns has been the ability to buy and sell used games for the upcoming console. The concern started when we found out that the latest addition to the Xbox family would install all games to the hard drive, and tie them to an Xbox Live account. With each game tied to an account, how would you sell the game when you are done with it? Microsoft promised there would be a way, and now we have reports on just how that might work, the first is from MCV UK:
“A gamer walks into a retailer and hands over the game they wish to sell. This will only be possible at retailers who have agreed to Microsoft’s T&Cs and more importantly integrated Microsoft’s cloud-based Azure pre-owned system into its own.
The game is then registered as having been traded-in on Microsoft’s system. The consumer who handed it over will subsequently see the game wiped from their account – hence the until now ambiguous claim from Phil Harrison that the Xbox One would have to ‘check in’ to Microsoft’s servers every 24 hours.
The retailer can then sell the pre-owned game at whatever price they like, although as part of the system the publisher of the title in question will automatically receive a percentage cut of the sale. As will Microsoft. The retailer will pocket the rest.”
As for how much you can expect to pay for a used game, ConsoleDeals has learned from a trusted source that second-hand games will only be sold at a discount of 10%. While shelling out around $54 for a used copy of a very recent title isn’t a big surprise at a local game shop, you won’t be finding better deals on Craigslist, or even borrowing games from your friends any longer. Remember how Microsoft said there would be a fee for activating a game on a second account? That 10% discount applies there, as well, meaning your friends would have to pay $54 if they wanted to “borrow” your game.
The main idea behind this push seems to be to put more money in the pockets of publishers and developers (along with Microsoft, who will also be taking a cut). While I can’t really argue against a developer making money on their own game, buying, selling, trading, and borrowing used games has been one of the staples in console gaming. Something that set it apart from the PC. With that advantage gone, and companies like Valve working to get gaming PCs into the living room, this could prove to be a very risky move by Microsoft.
