Could Ghostbusters spark import rush?

Sony’s move to grab PS3 and PSP exclusivity for Atari’s upcoming Ghostbusters title is nothing new in itself – but the region-free nature of many modern games could lead to an indie and online import rush.

Destructoid has had word from the North American arm of Atari that the Xbox 360 version of Ghostbusters will not be region locked. This is not uncommon for Xbox 360 titles and varies on a publisher-by-publisher and title-by-title basis.

However, the import market has not thrived under these conditions as in the modern market there is rarely a gap of more than a few days between American and European releases. PS3, PSP and DS titles are routinely not region locked, though there are exceptions, most notably on PS3. Wii games are uniformly locked.

Though Xbox 360, Wii and DS versions of the game will be released in the UK eventually, Xbox 360’s core userbase is traditionally a devoted one and is more likely than others to seek games from sources other than the High Street.

With the game releasing on all formats in North America on June 16th (just ahead of the UK PS3 release on June 19th) the door may be open for indies and, in particular, online retailers to make some under-the-counter profit.