There have been a bunch of rumors circulating the internet regarding whether or not the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles will prevent used games from being played. Rob Lloyd, the chief financial officer of GameStop, surveyed customers about whether or not they’d buy such a console in response. During the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, he presented the results of said survey. Unsurprisingly, the majority of customers that were surveyed wouldn’t buy a console that blocks used games.
“I think it was 60% of customers who said they wouldn’t buy a new console [if it blocks used games],” Rob stated. “Consumers want the ability to play pre-owned games, they want portability in their games; they want to play physical games. And to not have those things would be a substantial reason for them not to purchase a new console.” In addition, he stated that about 4% of used games that were purchased at GameStop were released in the last 60 days. This means that the overwhelming majority of used game sales are for games that are months or even years old and/or are out of print.
It’s worth pointing out that there have been rumors like this circulating the internet before the launch of the PS3, as well. Considering that GameStop is still a huge player in the console gaming market, don’t expect Microsoft of Sony to actually do stuff like this any time soon.
