14 DAY TRIAL // Take Two has lashed out again at the concept of a second hand market, saying that it has a negative impact on the sales of new titles. GameStop, the biggest brick and mortar chain of shops which buys and then re-sells videogames, has been singled out by the publisher.
Doug Creutz, who is an analyst of the videogame market, said, after a meeting with Ben Feder, the Chief Executive Officer of Take Two, that “GameStop continues to aggressively push their used game business, which is having a meaningful negative impact on sales of new games. Management is frustrated with this trend and is examining ways to ameliorate the problem, which includes strategies around online play and downloadable content which extend the lifespan of AAA titles.”
It's interesting to note that Take Two is complaining just as the Entertainment Software Associations, the organization which represents the interests of the videogame industry, announced that 2008 was, despite the tough economic climate, another record breaking year for the videogame market. Sales of games reached 11.7 billion dollars in North America, which means that they increased by 22.7% over 2007. It's quite incredible when you consider the fact that, in 1997, the entire industry only generated 5.1 billion in sales.
The second hand market has grown in recent years mainly because the frequency of big releases has greatly increased, while the price tag for new games is still unchanged at 60 dollars. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most gamers are selling their used games in order to buy new ones, which might actually help rather than hurt new games sales. Still, publishers fear that during the recession that is hitting more and more gamers will turn to used games, even if in doing so, they miss out on the extra content, like DLC or a multiplayer.