A number of retailers across the United Kingdom have said that, if publishers were to drop online passes and start offering better business terms, they’d be happy to offer a slice of pre-owned sales profits.
“As a retail store we would happily share part of the sale from a used game if we get something in return,” said indie retailer Gamespod. “Perhaps new games at better prices and no more online codes.”
Even HMV, one of Britain’s large high street retailers, stated a deal could be struck: “We all know how the business model in the industry is changing. So if there is any merit in this idea then it may be worth looking into.”
Bits and Pieces’ Julian Slater, however, made the best point, reminding us that publishers aren’t the victims they paint themselves to be: “If you want to stop these one-time codes then yeah, fair enough, we’ll share revenues. If publishers gave me a better deal, then maybe. The publishers are not the poor man here.”
Oddly, in all my rants about publishers and their victim complexes, I never thought about this — we never, ever talk about what kind of deal the publishers are offering retailers for new games. Sure, it’s easy to attack GameStop for pushing used sales so hard, but are publishers even playing fair to begin with? Something tells me that they aren’t quite as faultless as they claim to be when it comes to used games.
Retail: Stop online codes and we will share pre-owned revenue [MCV]
