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> So game developers want to keep their users from re-selling what they have bought. No. The article clearly points out the following scenarios: 1. A game is
by geofft 7y ago
> So game developers want to keep their users from re-selling what they have bought.
No. The article clearly points out the following scenarios:
1. A game is priced differently in different markets / geographies, and they only want to prevent reselling from a cheaper market to a more expensive one. (The obvious solution is to price everything at the highest price point, but if you think that's good for either sellers or buyers you're very confused.)
2. A game is purchased, re-sold, and refunded via a credit card chargeback. The issue is not with reselling but with voiding the original sale.
> if this is really such a big problem, just track where your keys are being used
I suspect developers don't have access to this, as these are e.g. Steam keys. (And again, "Avoid Steam and implement your own copy-protection" isn't good for anyone.)
- DarkWiiPlayer 7y ago> "Avoid Steam and implement your own copy-protection" Thanks for the strawman. I actually think what they should do is: "Avoid steam and not use copy-protection" If their game is good, it will sell; if it doesn't, it's just not good enough. But at least people who pirate a game may still buy it at some point; once they buy the game, even from an illegitimate source, how likely is it that they will buy it again for the full price?
- scarejunba 7y agoMind sharing the reason that you think this is binary? It seems to me that there is a price/value sense and different people have different value so by varying price you can reach an appropriate size of the market. But zero price is always better than higher price, so if that exists why would anyone pay at all? I’d say the null hypothesis is that pirates won’t rebuy. I don’t think there’s evidence that pirates rebuy on a scale that matters. Not worth optimizing for. Instead you aim to price the product and ensure availability in a way where the friction is low and the value is high for the price so you can maximize revenue. Fortunately, app stores like Apple’s have created a safe haven for this sort of thing.