Used games bad?

Back near the end of gen 7, tons of publishers and developers would whine and cry about used games saying buying a game secondhand or letting a friend borrow a game is the same as piracy or shoplifting. They even instituted cynical anti-used measures such as online passes, exclusive one use day 1 DLC, etc. Obviating used games was part of the reason for the Xbox One’s disastrous launch.

But they’re not whining anymore. Why?

No idea! But yeah, I can see where they're coming from. At the same time, there's a lot of gamers who will only buy brand new games as it is. It makes me wonder why there's people out there who will spend over $100 on a sealed game and never actually play it. The condition of a used product is important to me, but I'm more in it to actually experience the game, not just have it sit on a shelf for years and years to come.

I buy used games when I can and I don't have an issue with it. Though, in saying that...I'm generally more open to buying games in cartridge form. That way, you're playing it more safe and don't necessarily have to worry about scratches. (This is something to keep in mind when you're buying from online and they don't have pictures of the physical product itself.

I've gotten lucky in the past and picked up a few 3DS games from CeX...all in flawless condition which surprised me. Though, in saying that, I think the games that I bought you'd generally only play for a few hours and be like: "Yeah, this isn't for me" if it's not your thing.

Think less developers and more on publishers, I buy games from a retro store all the time, a well run and popular one. And they have a photo wall showing some developers buying games at this store as well. So most certainly seems more in the publishers camp.

As for why they want to control the market, they go on numbers and not how customers actually make purchase decisions.

It's easy and quick to assume one person sharing a copy with say five friends looses those five sales. When in fact it's advertising for them to potentially buy a copy themselves who may not have previously. If just one of those friends also buy that game, you've actually doubled each sale, the best advertising is interaction and word of mouth. Whether they grab a new copy or second hand depends on store, pricing, and stock.

And the argument for physical dying is a discussion in on itself. That may be why they don't care. Seeing as that means outside of CDKeys it has zero chance being second-hand.

Still love physical gaming myself but the market has clearly made its choice, and the cut is ever growing. Physical would only make a return if it has some further benefit, or digital becomes even more controlled (which it already kind-of is from majority stores)

Though on this note (from previous experience here) with P.C. only gamers it's difficult for them to have a say on the subject "physical being relevant/ irrelevant". They haven't had the choice with physical for a very very long time; and mostly under the iron grip of Valve and Epic.

I think that it’s kind of wash on the benefits Vs the detriments of used games. On one hand many people rely on trading or selling their games to buy more games. On the other hand many people only buy used games even if it’s only $5 cheaper. Overall though I think that used games help keep gaming ecosystem healthy. Personally though I never buy used games myself and I keep all the games I buy because I enjoy having a collection and just greatly prefer to get my games still sealed and new even if they cost more.

Sony is launching a digital only version of the PS5, you think publishers did not push them to do it?

Im guessing its for two reasons:

Digital game sales are only gonna keep increasing.

The benefit of advertising vs the detriment of friends sharing 1 copy probably becomes a wash

I almost always buy used. $60 is too steep for me.

Sharing is caring. It's sad to see today's video game market is leaning towards digital copies. I never favoured digital copies because it doesn't give me that same feeling of owning a physical copy.

I rarely buy used games. I'm just a bit OCD with cleanness and prefer them brand new. I am quite stingy and buy new games when they're cheap, usually under £20.

But when I am left with no choice, I resort to second-hand copies mainly for cost on the older-gen games.

I think it's because more people buy digital these days. Publishers probably still hate used games, but they see it becoming a moot point in the next few years. Plus, with the rise of micro-transactions, they can now get a good amount of cash out of a used game anyway. It's to the point where in some cases they give the base game away free.

Ultimately, we here less whining now because the market changed a lot the past seven years.

i buy ps2 used games and had no problem with them.

Mostly digital releases is why, and more exposure to the market. Used games was a hot topic awhile ago though. I didnt think they'd keep on about that being much of an issue.

Used games good.

For some reason I buy my Nintendo games brand new whether from an online seller or B&M store. Maybe it has to do with knowing the games keep value and increase in value and deciding to play in the future will result in higher prices.

The increase in digital downloads and success of game pass is undoubtedly eating into their sales. There’s nothing ‘bad’ about used games, there are just more alternatives now.

If you want to buy used games, go right ahead. These days, Xbox and Playstation discs especially are very durable. Blurays even with scratches can still be read.

Get rid of physical media and make games digital-only, lower price of games to 45 dollars. Problem solved.

*waits for outrage*

What about the whole "a used game sale is one less sale for the publisher/developer" argument?

Easy. Digital is overtaking physical. Physical games are really unnecessary these days. Do you buy CDs? No. Do you buy DVDs/Blurays? Probably not. It doesn’t make sense to have a physical collection anymore and next gen should phase them out quickly. I say this as a collector too but even I can’t ignore that going forward it’s pointless to maintain a physical collection.

Easy. Digital is overtaking physical. Physical games are really unnecessary these days. Do you buy CDs? No. Do you buy DVDs/Blurays? Probably not. It doesn’t make sense to have a physical collection anymore and next gen should phase them out quickly. I say this as a collector too but even I can’t ignore that going forward it’s pointless to maintain a physical collection when technology made it obsolete...years ago.

I haven't bought used games ever since digital games gotten cheaper than used games.