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I wonder if this is more of a Bethesda initiative or a law firm initiative. Is Bethesda aware that bad PR these days can cripple your launches? Are they really

I wonder if this is more of a Bethesda initiative or a law firm initiative. Is Bethesda aware that bad PR these days can cripple your launches? Are they really risking an increase in "revenge piracy" or loss of sales just for a marginal reduction in "losses" from these Amazon sellers? People who buy used games don't want to pay the new price, and they won't. One way or another they'll get it for the discounted price. It's best if you don't alienate your customers for something that will bring no palpable benefit.

ikeboy 8y ago
It's the law firm. They go out and pitch brands on using this to control distribution. See https://markettrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Vorys-and-Market-Track-Unauthorized-Reseller-Webinar-Slides-81116.pdf https://markettrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Vorys-and..., which pitches brands on creating bogus "warranties" so they then have a flimsy legal basis to threaten sellers with. Most sellers, even businesses, will fold out of fear and want to avoid a lawsuit, so these claims aren't often tested in court. Also, to be fair, this case was someone selling as new. The game was sealed, but it does cut down on their own sales. I know people who'll go to e.g. bestbuy, buy games using launch discounts or clearance, etc, then sell on Amazon. Perfectly legitimate business model in my view.
phobosdeimos 8y ago
"People who buy used games don't want to pay the new price, and they won't" They will once physical disks are abolished for digital stores. They have been pushing this for years and PC gaming is already there. No more used games.
- close04 8y ago
  I wonder if people will just create a different account for every game and just sell the account :D. And I don't see PC games being any different than console ones. Most games still have physical copies that can be resold, or am I missing what you meant? Physical copies still have plenty of life in them with games ballooning to triple digit GBs and most of the world being stuck on slow internet.
  - Macha 8y ago
    Many PC physical games have been Steam keys in a box for a long time. Sometimes they come with a disk with the Steam installer for the release version but it has DRM to prevent running it without activation on a specific account, so it only really saves on download time for a couple of months until patches are as large as just downloading the game anew. In recent years, there's a been few more cases of Origin/uplay/etc. keys in the box instead, but the same limitation applies.
- hakfoo 8y ago
  I think they're acting on that message, in a different way, though. The retail model was always space constrained. They have to take Oblivion off the shelves eventually to make room for Skyrim. That created a window where you had to buy now or you have no choice but used. Digital shops have no such limit, so they can just keep all product on a gradual downward pricing spiral. And the buyers can just wait forever until their personal threshold is reached. Now, the interesting side of it is what effect resale has on people's price thresholds: do buyers price the trade-in value of the game into their purchase decisions? I could see someone saying "I'm willing to buy the $60 PlayStation disc I can trade back for $20 when done, but the corresponding PC version (with no resale option) has to be $40 to provide the same value for money" Maybe not consciously, though.

ikeboy 8y ago

It's the law firm. They go out and pitch brands on using this to control distribution. See https://markettrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Vorys-and-Market-Track-Unauthorized-Reseller-Webinar-Slides-81116.pdf https://markettrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Vorys-and..., which pitches brands on creating bogus "warranties" so they then have a flimsy legal basis to threaten sellers with. Most sellers, even businesses, will fold out of fear and want to avoid a lawsuit, so these claims aren't often tested in court. Also, to be fair, this case was someone selling as new. The game was sealed, but it does cut down on their own sales. I know people who'll go to e.g. bestbuy, buy games using launch discounts or clearance, etc, then sell on Amazon. Perfectly legitimate business model in my view.

phobosdeimos 8y ago

"People who buy used games don't want to pay the new price, and they won't" They will once physical disks are abolished for digital stores. They have been pushing this for years and PC gaming is already there. No more used games.

close04 8y ago
I wonder if people will just create a different account for every game and just sell the account :D. And I don't see PC games being any different than console ones. Most games still have physical copies that can be resold, or am I missing what you meant? Physical copies still have plenty of life in them with games ballooning to triple digit GBs and most of the world being stuck on slow internet.
- Macha 8y ago
  Many PC physical games have been Steam keys in a box for a long time. Sometimes they come with a disk with the Steam installer for the release version but it has DRM to prevent running it without activation on a specific account, so it only really saves on download time for a couple of months until patches are as large as just downloading the game anew. In recent years, there's a been few more cases of Origin/uplay/etc. keys in the box instead, but the same limitation applies.
hakfoo 8y ago
I think they're acting on that message, in a different way, though. The retail model was always space constrained. They have to take Oblivion off the shelves eventually to make room for Skyrim. That created a window where you had to buy now or you have no choice but used. Digital shops have no such limit, so they can just keep all product on a gradual downward pricing spiral. And the buyers can just wait forever until their personal threshold is reached. Now, the interesting side of it is what effect resale has on people's price thresholds: do buyers price the trade-in value of the game into their purchase decisions? I could see someone saying "I'm willing to buy the $60 PlayStation disc I can trade back for $20 when done, but the corresponding PC version (with no resale option) has to be $40 to provide the same value for money" Maybe not consciously, though.