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Crytek Would Love Next-Gen Consoles To Block Pre-owned Games

Rasmus Højengaard, the Swedish director of creative development at Crytek, thinks it would be “awesome” if Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony restricted access to pre-owned games. There were rumours that both Microsoft and Sony were looking into blocking pre-owned games on their next generation systems, but Nintendo hasn’t announced anything.

“From a business perspective that would be absolutely awesome”

“It’s weird that [second-hand sales] are still allowed because it doesn’t work like that in any other software industries, so it would be great if they could somehow fix that issue as well.”

104 thoughts on “Crytek Would Love Next-Gen Consoles To Block Pre-owned Games”

    1. I see nothing wrong with his argument because I buy all of my games new. If we want games to stick around, we should buy games brand new so companies would be willing to make more games and take more risks. I can feel the wave of hate already coming at me.

      1. If we want games to stick around, we shouldn’t be given another reason to pirate a game.
        If you buy a game second hand, which you aren’t sure you’ll enjoy, since you happen to be new in the genre, and you happen to like it, then the developpers have a new customer for their next game. That person would not buy the game new, since it might be a waste of money. They should just have a li’l bit more trust in their fans, and make good games to answer their feelings.

        /No hatewave at all.

      2. It doesn’t matter if you buy the game used or new. They still make the same amount of money from the sale. Really, the developers just want this so you will spend more of your money to pay for a game that might not even be good at all. It’s a really bad marketing/business strategy for them. Especially since if these rumors are proven to be true, the sales of the consoles would probably drop.

        1. Revenue from used game sales goes entirely to the store or company selling them. Otherwise it wouldn’t be as profitable for places like Gamestop which gets most of its profits from used game sales.

      3. You see nothing wrong – for the developers that is, but what you fail to understand is that people who love their games a lot can’t afford to buy games brand new all the time. They will buy something new if it’s awesome or they’re fans, but if you could budget your monthly bills and rent, plus satisfy your gaming needs by buying pre-owned then why not. Why should someone miss out because they have to make a crap decision to either buy the game at full price or don’t play at all? Think about it from both sides, not all of us have the money to spend on games, so we have to wait until we can get them cheaper. That’s all, I’m too bored to say anymore now.

  1. Nintendo would have the upper hand if they didnt block preowned games. All the sony and eggsbox 3.60 fags would cry hahaha (assuming the rumour is true of course)

      1. They already try to force N in many other things, including ridiculously powerful, jet completely profitless hardware. And then they proceed to complain how it’s to expensive to create games with top notch graphics.

        Never, I repeat, NEVER listen to what developer want. They want shit that is bad for everyone, including them self.

    1. Kan inte annat än att hålla med, men jag tycker nog att second-hand kulturen inom gamer världen börjar gå överstyr, men detta är inte lösningen. Släpp fler spel som Mario och Zelda och det löser sig fina firren.

  2. “From a business perspective that would be absolutely awesome”

    That’s arguable. I would think it’s semi-retarded. If you want more money, cut your prices. Sure, you won’t be getting as much form individual sales, but people will buy more games more often, leading to an overall increase in profits.

    “It’s weird that [second-hand sales] are still allowed because it doesn’t work like that in any other software industries, so it would be great if they could somehow fix that issue as well.”

    It’s really not that hard to find second hand software that works if you really try. I also don’t understand why every other industry on the planet is fine with second hand sales, but the games industry has to throw a hissy fit over it.

    1. because third party devs are lazy and want more and more money. Yet they dont wanna port to Nintendo consoles…they are the biggest trolls never mind fanboys

          1. Problem is that a big part of gaming culture is about this. Too many people buy a game, play it through, sell it and buy another second hand game. This way the companies lose big money even if the game is great.

    2. Because it is only in the game indusstry that retailers rebuy a game bought at 55dollars at 20$ to resell it at 50 and xwithout the devlopers touching one Dollar In the end, the clients and the devlopers gets screwed. I am for pre-owned games but if they are on a person to person selling not with this abuse of power unlegitimate.

  3. That’s because crytek is stupid

    Oh btw FIRST
    MWAAAHHAAAHHAA

    Im sorry guys :/ I’ve never been first before

  4. “it doesn’t work like that in any other software industries”

    That’s a bit exaggerated. Things like Microsoft Office and professional drawing/recording/video editing suites are typically one-time uses, but they’re different than video games because they aren’t necessarily entertainment. They’re meant to be kept for years and used as a tool.

    Movies and music CD’s are sold secondhand all of the time. Entertainment is much more a one-and-done sort of thing. It’s easy to justify playing a game for a few months and then getting a return on the money you spent — you’ve used the media as much as anyone can. The only reason to hang on to a game or movie is for the sake of having it on hand in the future.

    From a business standpoint it might be “awesome” but from a consumer standpoint it would suck. It would especially suck for newer IP’s. Not everyone is willing to shell out top dollar for a game in a franchise they aren’t familiar with. Mario might continue to sell well under a no-used policy, but what of the hundreds of less-established games being released each year? Secondhand sales and rentals are vital for those titles, if only in a roundabout sort of way. Getting your games into the hands of as many people as possible is important if you ever hope to gain a loyal following.

    1. It’s personally amusing you mentioned music being resold. I had to think of when I hit a local shop Fingerprints on Record Store Day, and then his statement made me laugh. But oh wait, music’s ONLY sold digitally. I’m sorry, but I forgot that things don’t exist OUTSIDE charted sales.

    2. Actually, so long as you uninstall the software, you can sell or trade it legally. This applies to most software with a perpetual liscence, including Windows.

  5. if this happens people will buy less consoles=less sales=still same problem noobs and nintendo never wil do something like that they even support selling donwloaded titles to friends on wii u LOL

  6. I personally never (or very rarely) buy preowned games, but my problem with blocking preowned games is that if my friend asks me to bring a game to their house to play, it won’t work if the game is blocked. And since I do this regularly, it would be a problem for me.

    I vote no restrictions on used games

  7. From a business perspective, it’s the dumbest idea ever.
    People aren’t going to gamble $70 on a game they can’t try out. I run a new and used entertainment store, and witness first hand the power of used games (IF they’re good) solidifying a new sale when the next in the series or even a new franchise by a now trusted developer get released.

    Not only that, but:

    I can’t loan a game to my friend? Or even my son that lives with his mother? That’s just plain stupid. I bought it, if I’m done with it, or need a break from it, let me advertise for you FOR FREE.

    Idiots.

        1. http://mynintendonews.com/2012/05/01/iwata-discusses-digital-retail-downloads-for-wii-u-and-nintendo-3ds/

          This right here should give you Iwata’s perspective on the whole used game situation.

          “These consumers think it advantageous that they can exchange games with their friends. In order to offer consumers options to choose from, it is important for the company to first make the situation (where digital downloads of packaged software are offered to our consumers in addition to the existing packaged software sales) a reality, and we are ready to offer these options now.” – Satoru Iwata

    1. This doesn’t provide a justification for why they should be around. Lots of things have been around for years…but you don’t see much of them now.

  8. When I can buy your game for $10, use it on any device I want without install limits, and have reasonable confidence that 15 – 20 years from now I will still have access to the game I bought, then we can talk. Until then quit being so damn greedy.

    Ford doesn’t get a cut when I sell my car, you don’t deserve a cut when I sell my game.

    1. One BIG difference. Many people buy a game, play through it and then sell it and repeat this to be able to play more games without gaming industry earning any money. You can’t really do the same thing with a car…

      1. Many people buy a new (or slightly used) car, drive it for a few years and then resell it to get a newer model. It is called “trading up”. It is no different from buying new games, playing them, and trading them in to help finance the next game.

        The SCOTUS has upheld the First-sale doctrine time and again. Why is it that the game industry feels that they should be given a special pass because their profit margin isn’t as big as they think it should be.

        1. A car cannot be used as an example. A video game is a license not an actual product. You do not purchase a license from Ford to drive their car. You purchase the car and purchase your license from the department of motor vehicle ( in the US). Video games are a license that you purchase to play in your video game console. Try legally purchasing Microsoft Office, Windows, antivirus software and install it on another pc and have it registered to see what happens. So that example will never work.

    1. the solution is to make games that people will actually want to buy new, make them reasonably cheaper by reducing development cost and stop fucking around with the consumer (on disc locked content/online passes/dlc that should be in the game)

      1. the problem is: the cost to make games with 3d quality(ex:pixar similar graphics ) and full hd quality are so high… phisical media add more costs…

        1. what I’m saying is that they SHOULDN’T try to make pixar quality graphics if that forces them to block pre owned games.

  9. Crytek can suck it. If the games they make have such a high development cost that they need to rip off the consumer of their rights in order to make a profit then it really shows how much they care about their fans. They should stop focusing on graphics, make cheaper games and sell them normally. Fuck these clowns.

    1. Problem is that except for GreenManGaming, PC gamers can’t sell their games back. And even after all the messing around they have been getting by DRM, the price for a new AAA PC game crept up to 60 bucks thanks to Modern Warfare 2 (and that game took out dedicated servers, which was a longtime running feature in FPS games since Quake or Half-Life)

  10. Truly enjoyable games always sell well and if games are good people don’t trade them in for 10 bucks they keep them and play them over and over.

  11. Yeah, go ahead and piss off your consumers.

    Hackers will just hack the consoles to allow the use of pre-owned games AND pirated games.

    1. What they’re saying is that they’re not going to make it possible to get pre-owned games, through means of having to install the game onto your console. If you install it, you can’t trade it back to get some of your money back, And then, other people can’t get it cheap. Therefore, that makes them *think* that they’re going to get more money.

  12. If you make a game that people think is worth buying then it really wouldnt matter about pre-owned games. Develope something worth putting my old game down for. There’s were the money is not whining about games that have already been sold.

  13. That’s avery stupid and narrow minded way of thinking, dude from Crytek. I live in a country with a very heavy loan culture for gaming. If I and friend have games we want to play we trade with each other. Perfect example, I had Resident Evil 4 for the GameCube and my friend had the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I lent him RE4 and he lent me LoZ: TP. We played the games until a predetermined time the returned them to their respective owners. And that still didn’t stop me from buying my own copy of TP when I could afford it.

    What about going to a friends house to play games. If it went the way you wanted I wouldn’t be able to take my games to a friends house and use them on his console. This is also a concept Nintendo is trying to implement with the Wii U’s tablet controller. So I don’t expect Nintendo or Sony/MS to adopt this policy. It’s just greedy.

    Leave luck to heaven.

    1. Which is Your Country? sound pretty similar here, were exchanged of used game and their sell are pretty common

  14. What?! Suddenly this use of convience that was useful for many YEARS since the NES and ATARI era (I think), Crytek wants this to be stopped? What a piece of fucking bullshit! Crytek is greedy! But they think that if people do NOT buy preowned games and then buy regular un-owned games, they would have more money. No! This causes outrage! Screw Crytek,

  15. Personally I work for a company that does sell preowned games, I really don’t believe Sony or Microsoft would make a system unable to play preowned games. The back lash on them would be too great. Who wants to buy a new game just to dislike it and be able to do nothing with it? Even giving it to a friend wouldn’t work if the system can’t play it.

    1. The only one will not embrace that politic of being accepted would be nintendo, because they asure Backward Compatibility and that means used games…

  16. Ok, I always try to buy my games brand new to support the industry. I know it’s an expensive hobby, but if they want to avoid used games as much as possible and increase sales, they need to lower the price of games. You don’t see a bigger market for other media because retail games are crazy expensive.

    The other problem is availability. 1-2 years after release, it’s hard to find a new copy, and by then games would be cheaper. The only solution at the moment is to buy them used, but if they block used games, then we lose. They could have them as downloadable games but there are still problems with that like Internet connection, speed, how big the files are, etc. If this keeps up, you will see more and more gamers switching to PC and playing pirated games, which will hurt these companies even more.

    1. If they lower the cost then the budget that go into the game gets lower which results in a shorter game or a repetitive game. I do understand what you are saying. Lower price equal more sales. What happens when they do that and the sale numbers are the same?

      1. There’s some truth to that, but it could be worse to have lower sales due to higher prices. A lot of people are now reluctant to buy these games, especially when most of them already last no longer than 8 hours. Higher prices are going to force people into choosing more wisely and buying less software overall, which will create a sales decline.

        If I had $100+ tax, I would buy 2 games for $50 each. But games start to cost $70-$80, then I would stick with what I think is worth the money and buy only one game without trying out new experiences.

        All of these generations have had leaps in visuals and technology, and game prices remained consistent, $50 for example, bu this gen suffered a lot due to those higher prices. And I don’t think adding online multiplayer justifies the higher prices since they’re not for everybody. Plus, they have plan to charge for online gaming individually, so right there, it would create an even worse gaming environment.

  17. I would even venture that this could be grounds for legal battles. And if you don’t think this issue doesn’t deserve legal battles, then the gravity of this situation hasn’t dawned on you as a purchasing gamer yet.

    1. How do you win a battle against a product with a license? That would be like trying to sue Microsoft Office or Norton (McAfee and others). All they would have to do is state 1 user on all games.

  18. If this does happen then there be a number of possible out comes. Either people will get so pissed off that they will stop buying games if they know that they can’t sell them back to the pre-owned market and Nintendo will have to prevent the industry from crashing by not blocking pre-owned games. Or if all three companies blocked pre-owned games the industry could suffer another crash. Or more people will be motivated to pirate games made for consoles that block pre-owned games, which will cause companies to loose money. I don’t think companies realize how many people buy games pre-owned and prefer to buy them pre-owned. Also how many people end up selling their games through gamestop or ebay or some other means because they get bored with them. It happens a lot. I understand why this guy is saying that he thinks it would be awesome. But the result will not be positive. Not with how many people would prefer to pirate games (and how many of them get away with it easily).

  19. Let’s see how awesome this is.

    1. Ruins new franchisees. People are less willing to give +60$ for a completely new and unknown game. Some people will, but most won’t. If there is a second hand market, they might buy it and then, if they like it, buy the second part. Without this, people will most likely ignore it.

    2. Gives more reasons to pirate a game. If I have more trouble with a legally bought game than with a pirated one, I will pirate it. It’s as simple as that.

    3. If my console bricks, I loose all my games.

    4. I can’t bring my games to my friend for a sleepover. I would have to bring my console.

    With all those things, I wouldn’t even consider buying the console at all. Even if it’s a Nintendo console. I would just stick to my PC and Steam. There isn’t a second hand market, but the service is at least decent.

  20. If it’s true that Sony and Microsoft are doing this but not Nintendo we already know who the winner of the next gen’s console war is…

  21. The only reason I don’t buy pirated games or download them for my Wii is that I can buy cheap legal games from the second hand market.
    Consider this: I don’t own a 360, but next christmas I’m planning on buying one, Why? because a friend of mine owns a 360 and a TON of games for it, then all I have to do is buy a 360 and borrow the games from my friend, Microsoft is winning a console sale from this. If 360s blocked pre-owned games, there’s no way in hell I would ever buy one.

  22. The games that I buy new are Pokemon Games, Zelda Games, and 3D Mario Games. Do you know why? Because they have proven their appeal to me. This happened because my friends had those games and I saw why they were good. Of course, you may think I’m just a Nintendo fan, but even that isn’t true. Assassins Creed made a wonderfully appealing game, and I could get into it because the first game was very cheap when bought used. You can’t expect new people to get into your series unless the cost of trying it is significantly low. This is why used games are neccisary.

    1. I would say renting is more important and friend sharing than used game buying. You can always borrow a game or rent it to see if you like it instead of buying it. Demo of the game would be great if they did the block used games. I don’t personally buy used games but I understand a need for them. The problem is the need for them have outweighed the need for new games. That is what the developers/publishers are complaining about. It is not that the games have a market for being purchased used. It’s the fact that the used game market is bigger than the new game market.

  23. I wonder if that would make gamestop mad? They make very good money for preowned sales, and there are many websites that do the same. Something tells me gamestop would voice protest to protect their bottom line, and possible start stacking their nintendo stuff in plainer view lol.

  24. Agreed. Ban used games. Aside from nintendo’s franchises most games end up dirt cheap within weeks (case in point BIG games like Mass Effect selling for £22 about 3 weeks after release)

    But with the banning of used sales also comes hand in hand with the banning of pointless DLC that should have been on the disk, banning of codes so you can play online or have to pay extra for. Which is a bit of a plus.

    If it were me I would put a time limit on however. After a period of time it’s ok to get pre-owned. Becauce a lot of the better games this gen (Okami, Little King’s Story, Zack and Wiki, Metroid Trilogy, Nier, Tales Of games) are now nearly impossible to get. Pre-owned is good for that. (Would never have gotten Suikoden 2 all those years ago without pre-owned)

  25. I personally think this whole ‘block used games’ thing is freaking pathetic and shows an industry who can’t accept that people don’t think their games are worth that much. Why deny basic sales rights that have been working fine for thousands of years for every other product under the sun? In what way is it any of their damn business if I buy a game second hand or sell it to someone else?

    Honestly, first this stupid obsession with ‘anti piracy measures’ and DRM, now this? When are people going to just tell the games industry where to stick it?

  26. so crytek not releasing crysis 3 on wii u because nintendo not answer them about blocking pre owned games
    damn you crytek!!

  27. Pingback: Crytek developer backtracks on used-game blocking comments | GeekInvaders.com

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