Comic #50 : "Used Games"

Gears of War creator Cliff "Cliffy B" Bleszinski has been very vocal on Twitter about the need to stop the sales of used videogames and rentals because developers only receive money for their game when it is sold new, and not when it is sold second hand. He says that due to the dramatic rise in costs the new HD era of graphics has brought about, as well as the astronomical marketing costs this means that they need far more money from the consumers. And stopping the sales of used games is the way to achieve this.

There are many, many faults in his argument, and the best ones are excellently articulated by Jim Sterling in this article he wrote on the subject at Destructoid.

However, even assuming that it was a reasonable argument, it's ignoring one fact. People who buy new recoup some of the cost of that purchase when they sell it second hand. So, assuming they get back 50% of a game's price when they sell it on, that's means they will be able to buy a third less games. It's also ignoring the fact that this policy also prevents you from lending games to a friend.

Now, my first experience of Gears of War was when I borrowed it from a friend. Had I not borrowed it I would not have been interested in it. I enjoyed playing it so much I went out and bought it (new, special edition), and I then bought the special editions of the sequels (Again new) when they came out. I also recommended friends buy the game so we could play co-op online. That is at least 5 sales of Gears of War that would not have happened if you could not sell used games, or lend copies to your friends to play.