Bethesda banning used games?

https://www.polygon.com/2018/8/11/17661254/bethesda-sell-used-games-amazon-block

Is the sale of used games coming to an end?

Discuss.

Yes its coming to an end. Bethesda wants to kill used games and mods because greed.

Doesn't bother me from a PC gamer side, but seems anti consumer from the physical side, games are expensive for a lot of people.

I'm more shocked that someone actually bought The Evil Within 2.

So, another garbage company I'm starting to getting away from.

Not buying anything from them anymore.

Funny thing, i got Fallout 4 used.

Guess i'll grab ESO used just to spite them.

The industry has been trying to kill used games since the early 2000's.

@recloud: if you was buying the games used you wasn't buy anything from them anyway so why would they give a shit?

Lol consoles

Instead of fixing the game on PC they are doing these kind of things.

One of the main reason that this game isn't successful is due to Bethesda.

be careful. They may find you. lol

The sale of a used game sales actually breaks the EULA, so developers and publishers actually have every legal right to block them.

It sounds to me that it's more like he got in trouble for selling a still unsealed copy as new, which technically is, and by not going through Bethesda's official channels, they feel entitled to a portion of the revenue for someone trying to resell their still new game. I didn't read anywhere in the article that Bethesda is targeting sellers of actual used copies.

I tried to tell y’all

@GarGx1: Wait, what? Lol

@JustPlainLucas: they have done it before, it's not a new practice

Let´s hope so

Used games takes money away from developers.

lol PCs (they are garbage).

1st sale doctrine...

They have no right to block them.

As far as I'm aware the "first sale" ruling only affects the EU and not the rest of the world. It's also still a very grey area due to the blanket statements made in the European court judgement.

Wait, the US doesn't use it?

@GarGx1: they might have this right, but it doesn't make them less of douchebags and they should ne punished by these practices. If anything, we should boycott them

I feel sorry for Bethesda. Such a poor company. They need every dime they can squeeze.

Not as far as I'm aware, good chance I'm wrong on that though.

Didn't say it was good or bad, just that all software EULA's try to prevent the resale of software licenses. As @Ant_17 says above there are court rulings that undermine the wording used in these EULA's though.

Seems Bethesda are using the "under waranty" claim breaks the 1st sale doctrine because it is altered by not having the waranty or still having the waranty because the game is sealed and he is not employed by bethesda...it's a loop hole they found, which only shows the stupid sh*t they are wasting their time with.

And 1st sale is global, just checked.

From reading the article ..it seems the guy is trying to sell it *as new* sealed & unopened as a *New* there's a law against this?...interesting..so if he'd opened it ...then he can sell it as second hand goods?...no problem? ..

Actually, let's not.

Yes, used games take money away from developers, but used anything takes money away from whomever first creates the product. Are you against used anything? Used car lots? Goodwill? Library?

A few Bethesda games are already on gamepass anyway

Yes, I am against used most things, I will rather wait and buy new than buy used or rent "used" books.

So I have no problem with Bethesda limiting online services or limiting support. In an attempt to prevent resale.

But as to the current case, Bethesda does not have a legal leg to stand on, If this person bought the game and have a receipt, they can not do anything to him. The only one who can do anything is Amazon.

Wow. Incredibly lame, especially with the game being out so long.

I mean I'd get it if a bunch of copies were available from unauthorized sellers right at launch date (like if the same unauthorized seller had 100 copies or something), because then you might suspect counterfeits or something illegal. But to go after some random guy for selling his $20 game because of the technicality that he is selling it "new" instead of "like new" or some other nonsense (when in reality I think most people would consider anything sealed to still be "new" on any re-seller site)? That is worth what, like $5 difference? Sounds like this law firm have too much time on their hands or something. The lawyer probably billed the company like $500 to threaten this poor guy over his $20 game LOL - and a court case would certainly cost $10's of thousand. GTFO with this garbage Bethesda.

This is so sad. Their franchises sell millions and they're going after some random Joe who wanted to a sell game they decided not to play.

I don't like buying used games, but I like being able to sell them occasionally to those who want them. I'd have nothing against buying a mint used game either, I just don't find myself doing it often because I already have too many games that I buy from black friday sales and digital sales and such - I basically buy all my "new" games at used prices. I would mostly only buy a used game if it was some ancient game where it was mostly only available used (or there was some huge disconnect between the used price and new price).

I don't buy alot of used things, but being "against used things" seems incredibly silly to me.

When I was in college I always 100% of the time went for the used books - and the vast majority of people did too. I have no idea why anyone except for the publisher would be "against" this. Of course when I went to college e-books weren't yet super popular, and some of my old bookstores went out of business. So I assume it's shifted mostly digital now. That is rather unfortunate for students because I doubt prices have done anything but keep going up.

Used games need to continue to be a thing. Lots of people rely on those. Hell, I just bought the first Mortal Kombat for my Sega Game Gear last week.

I sincerely hope we don't see another platform wide annnouncement like the 2013 Xbox E3 when next gen is announced.

@Jacanuk: So if a game is no longer in print you have no way of getting it?

With "being against used"I meant that I will never buy used if it can be avoided,

Even now in university, i have always bought all my things new, used just doesn´t appeal to me.

But as to games, there my problem is the money taken away from the developer, considering the amount of money generated by the second-hand market, it´s pretty crazy to think that developers get zero.

Seems like a lot of people here didn't read the article. He was dinged as an unauthorized seller due to him marking the copy as new. Even though it technically was "new", he did have permission to sell "new" copy as he isn't a licensed seller. This has nothing to do with used games at all.

And why should they? Why do they get to double dip when no other manufacturer of anything gets to double dip? Levi doesn't get to see a cent from Goodwill. James Patterson doesn't get a single cent after initial purchase from libraries when patrons check out his books. Ford and a million other makers don't get to see a single cent from any used card lot That's how it should be. Their money was made on the initial sale. These authors, artists and corporations have already made millions and billions. They don't get to double dip because they aren't the ones selling them a second time. That's why Right of First Sale was established. Also, people buy used because they can't afford new. So, a lot of the money these developers are "losing" is money they'd never make in the first place, because people can't afford their games.

But it's not just a GameStop issue. Thinking it is is short-sighted. Being able to sell not just used games, but used anything, allows someone to unload things they don't want to other people who want them. This keeps used games (and other products) out of landfills. Entertainment should NOT be a one-off consumable like, say, food. By killing the used market, that's exactly what games become, and that is a WASTE. An absolute waste. People will also be less inclined to buy games if they can't unload them if they're finished with them or don't like them, and this will increase piracy.

Lastly, killing the used market eliminates gaming for poor people. Now you got to be pretty arrogant to think that gaming is only for those who can afford it. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen poor kids scrap up enough money to buy a Madden game for five bucks at GameStop and then their faces light up like if they got a brand new game. It's life changing for some people. They don't care that they don't have the newest games or consoles, only that they have SOMETHING. I've always believed that gaming is for everyone, rich or poor, and it's also why I am HIGHLY against digital only consoles because that eliminates gamers who don't have access to the internet. But that's a different topic, so I digress.

I'm with you on developers getting more money, but NOT at the expense of the used game market. NOT at the expensive of people unable to afford new. You could afford new back in Uni. Great for you, but a lot of people can't. They have no choice. Instead of blaming the used market, how about we blame the publishers? How many hundreds of millions of dollars do they waste on game advertising for games we already know are coming out? How many games have we seen with bloated budgets for expensive graphic engines and celebrities badly voicing characters to produce short games with no replay value that lose more than halve their value after a month? Honestly, these greedy publishers should be making MORE money on secondhand sales that they probably wouldn't give to the developers anyway? Come on...

The used market is not the problem here...

I hope people read the article. What a click-bait article. More quality "journalism..." This was about a guy selling a sealed copy of a game that he never opened as "new" on Amazon. Since he is not an official retail partner of Bethesda they cannot verify if head did something to the game and re-wrapped it. So they told him to take the listing down as a precautionary measure.

The article made that correction, but honestly, why does this distinction matter? It is still Bethesda going after some poor schmuck trying to sell *his* $20 game. If the item is not as described, it's really not Bethesda's issue, it's between the buyer and the seller (with Amazon acting as intermediary in this case). I'd certainly say if the game was still sealed, it is still "NEW" and Bethesda's reasoning is idiotic. This guy should have counter-sued these morons for wasting his time but I guess it wasn't worth it to him. It is certainly a frivelous lawsuit on the part of Bethesda IMO. I don't resort to petty "boycotts", but stuff like this makes me look at certain developers in a different way.

Misleading topic, only two people here bothered reading the article and pointed out the issue is about people selling second hand games as "new".

I think there's greater underlying issue pushing this, mainly retailer price matching most likely. Retailers don't price match to be competitive and eat the costs themselves, they get the money back from the publisher who authorizes discounts from MSRP, if one retailer works out a deal then all retailers are entitled to push same promotion through price matching and get their costs covered later by publisher. If people sell "new" games and aren't in their distribution chain they're messing up retailer price matching compensation, and that creates issues foe both normal retailers and publishers.

Click bait title.

They are stopping people selling pre owned games as new ones.

So if we state 'Good as new' instead of 'New' it would be fine? Sounds more like a little technical detail than a major move against used games.

Polygon is ew.

The problem here is he is selling a product second hand as NEW. Even though it is still unused and shrink wrapped it isn't from a license seller meaning it has no warranty. In a way they are trying to protect the buyer from purchasing a product that has no warranty. If he sells it as used or unopened and states it has no warranty everything would be OK.

So next time he can just list it as:

“Factory Sealed”

“Unopened”

“Like New”

“Mint Condition”

Or other similar things and Bethesda can’t do anything about it.

The real story here is Bethesda is picking on the little guy because he used the word “New”.

I see a glaring problem that people can't read or won't read more then the click bait title. Nobody can ban used games, end of discussion.

Then you are talking about every company that includes a warranty with there product, even Sony because if you purchase a unopened PS4 from a unlicensed seller it has no warranty. It isn't consider new. When most people purchase a new product they assume it has a warranty.

Maybe just me And not 100% on topic. Anyone in UK notice how expensive used games are here. For instance the price of games in Game used lot of the time more expensive than the super market chains new. Cex sells used items for then they're worth new.

Thank you! As much as people want me to hate Polygon, I too read this:

Bethesda does not and will not block the sale of pre-owned games. The issue in this case is that the seller offered a pre-owned game as “new” on the Amazon Marketplace.

We do not allow non-authorized resellers to represent what they sell as “new” because we can’t verify that the game hasn’t been opened and repackaged. This is how we help protect buyers from fraud and ensure our customers always receive authentic new product, with all enclosed materials and warranty intact.

In this case, if the game had been listed as “Pre-Owned,” this would not have been an issue.

I'd be more worried if GameStop announced they can't sell used games, which they haven't yet.

If it is "sealed" (not a re-seal, but actually still sealed from the manufacturer) it *is* still new - and it would be appropriate to sell as such. It would be like that for any item, not just for games. They are trying to claim video games are a special case, when really they are not.

What "warranty" do you think Bethesda providing here anyway? What a bunch of made up nonsense, and you are buying it? If they want to stop re-sales, there is one way to do it. Go 100% digital. But if they are selling physical copies, it is incredibly petty of them to persue a case like this on a hyper technicality. As someone above said, what are they looking for, the guy to change the description to "factory sealed", or "sealed as new" with an * that he is not a factory seller? You actually think that would satisfy them?

Warranty? Bethesda's "warranty" is probably "FU loser".

What warranty service do you think Bethesda provides? Obviously, as many game companies do they might continue to support some games post-launch (through patches, which for single player games are necessary mostly because they weren't bothered enough to quality test the game before release). But they do this in the form of a "patch", which is simply an upload that gets pushed out to anyone that pops the game in their console or PC - and I'm pretty sure it's PSN and XBL that handle all the distribution of those patches. Doesn't really matter if a game is new or used, the patch is the same.

As far as direct warranty service direct to consumer. What do you think they do? Their argument is basically they are "protecting" buyers form missing out on their awesome warranty service. LMAO. In all my years of gaming I don't think I've ever received "warranty service" from a game company.