GameStop buoyant about Xbox One and PS4 pre-owned

The president of global games retailer GameStop has played down fears that Xbox One will curtail the pre-owned market.

Both Sony and Microsoft have said games can be resold and that’s exactly what we anticipated,” Bartel told Forbes. It’s a recognized way to make these games more affordable. All three new platforms understand that.

We anticipate millions of gamers will sign up for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox 360 by the time we start taking reservations. There’s a tremendous consumer demand for next gen consoles and I think the Xbox One reveal will just build on that.”

Bartel added that GameStop puts $1bn in trade into the market and 70% of that money goes back into new game sales”.

None of which even acknowledges that fact that huge question marks hang over the pre-owned market not only for Xbox One but also for PS4.

The truth is that we’re none the wiser as to Microsoft’s pre-owned plans for Xbox One than we were before the machine itself was announced last night. Yes, pre-owned games will be functional on the machine. Will players have to pay a fee to access them?

And don’t forget the PS4, either, over which similar uncertainties abound.

Bartel risks seriously unsettling investors if it turns out his confidence was ill-judged. Unless, of course, he knows something that the rest of us don’t. In which case we’d absolutely love to know.