The used game industry has recently become a major topic of discussion for developers and publishers, as game budgets have, in recent years, ballooned to astronomical heights. From the industry’s perspective, retailers such as Gamestop are taking away potential sales, by allowing consumers the ability to purchase second hand, or used, games. THQ, in a recent investor conference call, outlined their plans to deal with this growing issue.
THQ CEO Brian Farrell talked with investors about how his company plans to deal with the threat of the used game market. For every major release down the time, Farrell cited THQ’s dedication to provide “robust downloadable content and premium online play“. Additionally, he added:
“We believe this will increase our digital revenue, engage players with our games for a longer period of time and reduce the impact of used games.”
What will probably end up being the case is, some/most of this DLC will be locked, and only users with a code, which would only come from a new copy of the game, would be able to unlock it. EA was the first major publisher to toy with the idea, with their highly controversial online pass, which required users to enter a one time code, to allow them to play online, for free.
Certainly, the way the industry is headed, all content will be locked or will require a small fee. In any case, PlayStation LifeStyle will be here to bring you all the latest news regarding this hot issue.
