MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Following the model laid down by Mass Effect 2’s Cerberus Network, EA has confirmed that the upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will also penalise those who buy it second hand. Anyone who buys a new copy of the title will find inside a code that can be used to access …
Read More »Pre-owned penalty for Mass Effect 2
An interesting experiment with Mass Effect 2 will see EA looking to discourage pre-owned sales of the game. Those who purchase new copies (either boxed or digital) of the title will be given a code to access what BioWare calls The Cerberus Network – a hub for accessing both free …
Read More »GAME: Pre-owned will keep growing
Pre-owned sales could account for close to a third of GAME’s revenue in 12 months’ time – as the firm looks forward to another year of double-digit growth for its trade-in business. In alarming news for publishers, pre-owned generated 25.7 per cent of the firm’s revenues in a tough H1 …
Read More »US: Amazon ups pre-owned offer
The North American arm of Amazon has increased the momentum behind its controversial trade-in strategy by offering an extra cash incentive to those willing to send their old games to the online retailer. Joystiq reports that Amazon will until the end of August offer an additional $30 credit to punters …
Read More »Pre-owned purchases at all time high
Whilst the ‘green shoots’ of economic recovery continue to fight their way through to the sunlight, the effects of the global recession are making their presence felt on the shopping habits of gamers, according to new research from Nielsen. The report claims that used game purchasing is at all-time highs …
Read More »No trade-in kiosks for Best Buy UK
Carphone Warehouse has told MCV that there are no plans to bring the trade-in ‘vending machines’ seen in Best Buy US stores to the UK. The kiosks are currently being trialled in Best Buy outlets in Dallas and Austin, and are similar to machines that appeared in Wal-Mart in May. …
Read More »US: Pre-owned market worth $2bn
Games market analyst Michael Pachter has stated that the pre-owned games market in North Ameica is worth around $2bn annually, with 100m units sold in stores across the region each year. A quick calculation will tell you that the average sale price of a pre-owned title is $20 (12). The …
Read More »US: Wal-Mart enters pre-owned market
North American retail giant Wal-Mart has quietly entered the pre-owned games market over the weekend with the surprise introduction of trade-in vending machines in some of its stores. NeoCrisis reports that the machines offer users that chance to sell off titles on a number of formats including Xbox 360, PS3, …
Read More »Nintendo: Used games arent in the best interests of the consumer
Reggie Fils-Aime, the outspoken president of Nintendo of America, has claimed that the growing trade-in business at games retail is not in the best interests of the consumer – though he admits that the situation would be better if publishers were to receive a slice of the pre-owned profits. More …
Read More »GAME on why consumers value pre-owned
GAME COO Terry Scicluna has told MCV that the games industry must accept pre-owned games as ‘something customers love’. Speaking to MCV as part of a wide-ranging interview about his plans for the firm’s GAME and Gamestation chains, Scicluna said publishers and developers scornful of trade-in offers must acknowledge the …
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