EA: Second-hand sales are a "critical situation"

newneto - 476 days 9 hours ago

For a fair price I can get all games via PSN. I like the way it works.

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Jenzo - 476 days 9 hours ago

Give us reasons to keep the games longer.

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Lord Shuhei Yoshida - 476 days 9 hours ago

So EA wants used money revenue too.EA,how is that new console you guys are working on doing?

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kevnb - 476 days 9 hours ago

people are always going to buy things second hand. Its not just video games, for instance how many people never buy new cars?

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harry190 - 476 days 9 hours ago

Drop the price after a few months, just like what happened with Burnout Paradise and it works wonders.

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blackskimmer - 476 days 9 hours ago

I understand this, I do. But look at why we sell our games in the first place, its so we can afford the new games coming out. I make decent enough money so does the wife, however when you buy 20-25 games a year at 60 bucks a pop thats 1500 dollars a year. Yeah yikes.

Want my solution? Do what you are doing with Burnout Paradise all your titles. However make me benefit from your system. 29.99 for a brandnew release via the PSN vs a 59.99 boxed retail copy? Sign me up. I would never buy retail again. You see deal a massive reduction in second hand sales. Everybody wins.

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Kyur4ThePain - 476 days 8 hours ago

F you EA.

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deeznuts - 476 days 8 hours ago

Same company that puts out a new Madden each year, instead of updates right???? Just sayin ...

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Statix - 476 days 8 hours ago

I'll continue to buy my used games and bargain bin games from EA (if they happen to make a title that interests me, which hasn't happened in the last 5 years). That's good to hear, EA, thanks for the tip on how to not support you.

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jerethdagryphon - 476 days 8 hours ago

rentals and preowned games dont give them anything and infact arent counted as sales on any chart

nor are preowned consoles

problem is they want us to keep our games because they add more multiplayer or more online functions

sorry but i dont play multiplayer and i dont want a lot of unnessesary online

i play single player games or games i enjoy with coop

if you want us to keep our games then make single player more involving or when the multi player aspect gets dull we trade them in

this generation has the highest volume turnaround in games

want to keep us interested make them more instersting

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name - 476 days 8 hours ago

What do they hate more? Game rentals or game trading?

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Rooster15 - 476 days 8 hours ago

The gaming industry has a bigger revenue then the movie industry and EA has the audacity to call second hand gaming stores a "critical situation"! These small buisnesses do sell new games but the meat of their revenue is the used inventory. I know because I'm the manager of a small gaming specialist store (which I will not devulge the name).

Let me explain something that I think most people don't realise:
As Major Corporations grow bigger they take over smaller companies and not only increase their revenue but destroy competition. When competition cesses to exisit the corporation in question does what it wants with their product and sets the price at what they want it to be. Because theres no competition!
HENCE, Competition is good for the consumer (and don't forget it)
Second hand gaming permits consumers to exchange their old games which are not being played anymore for new/used games. This in no way decreases EA's revenue...THEY JUST WANT TO INCREASE IT!

I was against EA taking over Take-Two Interactive...why? because they are just buying the name and pushing out the competition. Look what Wal-**** does to small towns in North America and now the rest of the world.

If you want whats best for the consumer don't buy into this BS. It is far from critical, it's healthy for the industry. In the words of Kyur4ThePain, "F you EA".

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Adamalicious - 476 days 7 hours ago

Just make better games that we want to keep in our library and you're all set - nothing else you can do about it.

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Tobias123 - 476 days 7 hours ago

I think what they don't realize, is that a gamer who picks up a used game for $20 or something, probably wasn't planning on paying the full $60 for a game anyway. I know if there is a game I'm only half interested in, I won't pay $60. But if a gamer likes the game they picked up for $20, and they like it a lot, when another game from the same people comes around they'll probably be more likely to pay the full price for them.

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RadientFlux - 476 days 7 hours ago

EA should just start selling discounted versions of games that have fallen off the radar.

Give the consumer the option of buying a pre-owned version of "Army of Two" at EB for $20 or buy it new from them for $15.

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witchking - 476 days 7 hours ago

EA is not the only publisher being hurt by this practice. They happen to be one of the few who are standing up and saying something about it.

I know it's great to say "F you" to EA, but EA as the publisher is not the only one getting screwed by second hand sales; the developer of the game is also being hurt.

If a game sells 1 million copies, and a third of those were second-hand sales, then EA and the developer only realize revenue on 2/3 of 1m copies. That might be a bit on the high side of second hand sales, but understand the point. The cost of game development is increasing exponentially in the current generation of video games. We as consumers are demanding the most realistic, high fidelity quality to these games. And as the cost increases, the need of the publisher to realize all the revenue from all the sales of the game will play an important part in ensuring the publisher and the developer realize a profit.

I buy and sell second hand games, mostly via eBay. I do feel kinda bad for the developers of these games that they will not realize revenue from such a sale. And I'll tell you this, as more and more games are sold via second-hand retailers (eBay, GameStop, Best Buy now, etc.) you're going to see publishers INCREASE the price of games to ensure profitability on the first-hand games they do sell.

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nirun - 476 days 7 hours ago

EA can blow me, innovate your games before you innovate your business model

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ThePeoplesChamp - 476 days 7 hours ago

this really must suck for ea as im working on a business model that gives gamers what they deserve when trading in used games. and currently the 200+ peoples that i have run it by also say that it would give gamestop a run for their money.

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Dpa - 476 days 7 hours ago

So basically if you buy second hand games you cause the same harm as pirates and your down $20+.

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darkpower - 476 days 4 hours ago

...go and force Valve to fix the PS3 Orange Box.

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ApocalyPS3 - 476 days 4 hours ago

I buy all my games retail. So, now it's EA's turn to be honorable and start putting quality back into the agenda. I just bought BF Bad Company, and I feel that they ARE getting there. But it's really only because they are getting better developers under their wing. Hopefully Dice's Mirrored Edge will continue on to be a great game.

Something that I WOULD pay top dollar for.

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Magnus - 476 days 1 hour ago

Second hand sales are worth it, I found a copy of Shenmue 2 for the xbox in a second hand shop. It is the best place to buy a game instead of paying a bigger price when u go onto ebay. The way i see it I payed for a game when i walk out of wal-mart after i played it or get bord of it i sell it or trade it in for another game. Most of these games are hard to find unless you go to a second hand shop or u realize you know i never owned an xbox i might as well buy this used game I am only out 10 bux. If EA decides to stick their nose into a persons buisness after they baught the game then people will just bootleg the game and put it on the game at half the price. Unless a game is a big name like Resident evil then i will usually rent it then buy it and if i cannot find it on the store shelves then u know what it is at the second hand shop. If EA really wants to be a pain in the ass then they would start putting a key onto the game to unlock it like they do for some pc games once used the game cannot be used again with out the key but then that would just drive down the sales for EA

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morganfell - 476 days 10 hours ago

Here is a solution. Stop making ass games that people quit playing after the first level and stop making games that have absolutely zero replay value.

EA should start to realize where a large portion of the blame lies and man up.

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