Valve bringing game trade-ins to Steam?

Source: Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, speaking to Now Gamer.

What we heard: Valve's online platform Steam is widely regarded as a leader in the digital distribution space, and the studio has maintained that lead by continuing to introduce features to improve the experience for gamers. This year alone, the Washington studio has rolled out the Steam Wallet to make purchasing content easier, as well as bolstered Mac support with Steam Play.

Today, it appeared as if prominent gaming industry analyst Michael Pachter tipped Valve's hand for the next innovative feature coming to Steam. In an interview with British gaming site Now Gamer, Pachter indicated that Valve would soon allow gamers to trade in their purchases through Steam for new titles.

"Steam is phenomenal; it's a great service," Pachter reportedly said. "Steam gives gamers enough other stuff so that they don't resent the fact they can't trade in their games. And you know, name all the Steam games that you've purchased that you've traded back in to somebody else for credit. Steam's about to let you do that supposedly, you know like trade and exchange, but they're going to take a fee from it."

The official story: There's just one problem: Pachter doesn't remember saying it.

"I saw the headlines today, and honestly don't remember saying that Steam would sponsor trade-ins," Pachter told GameSpot. "I can only surmise that the reporter asked the question that way ('Steam is rumored to be considering taking digital trade-ins') and asked me what I thought. I have NOT heard this from anybody, and think it had to be the way the question was phrased."

"When I said 'supposedly,' it's because the question was posed that way, and is an acknowledgement that I've never heard it before," he continued. "For the record, I don't know anything about Steam's plans to sponsor credits for games purchased in the past."

Now Gamer had not returned a request for comment on Pachter's retraction as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus.