Rumors have been flying around all over speculating that the next generation of consoles will block the ability to play used games. These rumors have been accelerated even more with this Edge report claiming that the next Xbox will require a constant internet connection, effectively ruining the second hand game market. Gamestop, one of the most prominent players in the used game market, have revealed their opinions and predictions about what will happen in the next console generation.
Find out what the company believes, and why other analysts believe the used game market is not going anywhere by reading on…
Matt Hodges, vice president of public relations and investors relations of Gamestop, explained in an email that he believes the used game market is relatively safe. He reasoned, “We know the desire to purchase a next-generation console would be significantly diminished if new consoles were to prohibit playing pre-owned games, limit portability, or not play new physical games”
This statement comes after Gamestop’s stocks dropped six percent to $25.20. Revenue for Gamestop is stimulated heavily by the used game market, with 46% of their gross profit and 27% of overall revenues coming from used game sales. Many analysts have expressed their confidence that the used game market is key to the success of video games, and is thus not going anywhere.
Michael Olson, who works as an analyst for Piper Jaffray Cos., argued that “We are confident that both the new PlayStation and the new Xbox will support used games,” and thus the drop in stock was a buying opportunity and not a sign of worry. Another analyst, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities, revealed a similar mindset in saying:
There is a ZERO chance that the console manufacturers will MANDATE that used games cannot be played. That means there is a zero chance of no disc drive, and a zero chance that they will require games to be registered to specific consoles, eliminating the possibility of used games being played. It doesn’t make economic sense for either of them (I’m leaving Nintendo out of the discussion) to do so by themselves, as it would concede a pretty significant marketing advantage to the other: If Sony did this unilaterally, Microsoft would exploit that fact and advertise their console as the consumer friendly alternative, and vice versa.
He did reiterate that there is a possibility for publishers to require a purchase code to play.
An announcement will be coming from Sony on February 20th, so gamers concerned with this issue might have some answers coming very soon.
