Executive vice-president of GameStop International Mike Mauler has a few things to say on the benefits of the used-games market, despite popular opinion. The common notion from publishers, developers and consumers alike is that the pre-owned business is simply getting in the way of the industry at large. Not true, counters Mauler, who says that there is a beneficial side to the business.
"I can understand the feelings," he tells Edge, "[but] we've sat down with developers and publishers and really gone through the data. I personally think there's a lot of benefit to the publisher.
"A great example is sequels, where there are a large percentage of people who are just not going to spend $60 every single year without being able to do something. They'll look at their shelf and see ten FIFAs, Pro Evos or Maddens.
"Being able to take the older one and do something with it in order to buy the next version is really important to consumers. That drives new sales quite a bit."
The answer to a few publishers is the Online Pass, first offered by EA Sports as a means to gain revenue lost on the secondary market. The Online Pass requires a code to be input for each console, opening up access to online content such as matchmaking. Mauler believes that the Online Pass simply is not the answer.
"Our data says that used customers play a lot less online than new customers," he states. "The number's very low - like 15, 20 percent."
"If you're an FPS fan, you look at all the games that are coming out this fall, and you'd have to be pretty wealthy to buy all of them. There are going to be people who buy Battlefield 3, and they're not going to have $60 for at least another month or two…they're all coming out so close together."
Interesting point of opinion, but with a 2011 holiday stuffed with major releases and lots of DLC opportunities, there just might be something to the logic.
