The mad rush into used games
Amazon.com launched a used game sales service today where gamers can trade in used games for store credit. And Toys ‘R Us is also starting to test sales of used games in its stores. Best Buy is as well.
The Amazon news prompted a 14 percent drop in GameStop’s stock price today, falling $3.84 a share to $23.46. That’s because GameStop gets about 25 percent of its sales from used games. The practice draws the ire of game industry professionals and game publishers, who feel the retailers aren’t sharing enough of the profits with them. It’s particularly irksome because GameStop pays high prices for recent games and thereby blunts the sales of brand new games. Game publishers and developers only get a cut of the brand new game sales, so they feel like they’re being robbed by the likes of GameStop.
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