SCEA frustrated by pre-owned sales

Rob Dyer, Sony’s American senior VP of publisher relations, has confessed that years of missing out on any return from the sales of pre-owned games has been very frustrating”.

However, the exec still has reservations about the DLC code movement being pursued by a number of games publishers.

You can talk about why DLC is important to help limit the used game business and to keep people holding onto a game,” Dyer told Gamasutra. I’m all about that. I love that.

But I have very mixed emotions about it. I am a big believer in encouraging the gamer to have a reason to hold onto it and to continue to play, and for the publisher to be able to see something if there is a second sale. Because right now, for years, as a publisher, we saw nothing. Very frustrating.

Look, this has been a tough couple of years. People have not been making money, and I think the used games business has been having a huge impact in that.

"I’m happy to debate merits, pros, and cons with folks at GameStop and have that discussion because again, I’ve sat on the other side and I’ve seen what can happen. People need to see a way to monetise that second sale.”