Thu, Sep 11, 2008 | 12:15 BST
Pre-owned market “damaging” single-player games – Braben
Secondhand games sales are hurting single-player games, Frontier’s David Braben has told GI. Goddamn those secondhand games.
“I think it’s really damaging to the single-player experience,” he said. “Games like BioShock and Assassin’s Creed, where they’re perfectly valid games, but once you’ve played them they go into the pre-owned section.”
“The sales don’t reflect the actual sales of people playing them because someone has gone out and bought, at almost the same price, a pre-owned copy because they couldn’t get an original. It’s very frustrating that they don’t carry that stock any more.”
More though there.
6 
Posted in: Retail, Trade, UK
Tags: david braben, frontier studios, secondhand
6 comments
#1
Blerk
11/09/08, 12:20 pm
Come on, David – you can get new copies of Bioshock or Assassin’s Creed in every shop on the bloody planet.
#2
Stupot24
11/09/08, 12:30 pm
Not this again!!
David has obviously got a massive chip on his shoulder about this, possibly he purchased a pre-owned game that was scratched or already registered for online play.
I dont think its hurt either of those games which are selling at £25 a piece in Morrisons right now, even less for the utterly shite ASSassins Creed. Bioshock 2 is 2/3rd’s of the way through development and even though no one asked for it EA are plowing on with Assassins Creed.
Sorry if we arent consistently lining your pockets David.
#3
Whizzo
11/09/08, 12:37 pm
Assassins Creed just hit the 360′s budget line so I don’t think there’s any problem getting hold of that and Bioshock isn’t difficult to get new either.
Plus choosing two games that have had huge retail success is a rather bizarre choice to pick out as being why pre-owned is a bad thing!
#4
Axle
11/09/08, 1:01 pm
When was the last time Braben released a new game, let alone one that can be picked up in Blockbuster for £3.99?
Oh noes! The second hand market is killing publishing!
Fuck off Braben, you might want to make money, but there’s a reason we’re called gamers – BECAUSE WE PLAY GAMES.
#5
Rhythm
11/09/08, 1:20 pm
If the 2nd-hand market gets killed off, the rental market would only increase.
#6
BraveArse
11/09/08, 1:30 pm
Braben seems to be specifically favouring the rental market in that interview as he thinks the developers would get more of a cut.
Personally I say “fuck that”… opens up a massive can of worms. If you want more profits, distribute digitally and for half the price. I have a ton of PSN stuff on my PS3 HDD that I’m really glad I can’t trade and bought on impulse purely because of the price point. Even the book industry is dabbling with the idea now.