14 DAY TRIAL // A new online retailer called EKGaming has announced that it plans to implement a new used game sales system which will reward publishers with a ten percent cut of their revenue, addressing one of the biggest problems that the industry has with the concept.
The company says that it is creating its new system in order to persuade publishers and developers to drop the current trend of introducing single use downloadable content and online passes, which are specifically designed to combat used game sales.
EKGaming plans to promote a simpler and healthier relation between used game sellers and publishers.
Mike Kennedy, the chief executive officer at EKGaming, stated, “This increase in dev costs is steering them in directions that don’t necessarily jive with gamers, causing them to take less risks on new and potentially exciting IP’s or game mechanics and sticking with tried and true properties that are more of a guarantee.”
He added, “We want to share our used game revenue with them so they can continue investing in new gaming experiences without worrying about the negative effects used games could be having on their operation(s).”
EKGaming has also promised that, despite the fact that it will deliver 10 percent of its used game revenue to publishers, it will also offer prices that are lower by 20 to 30% than those of its core competitors.
The most important used game retailer is GameStop, the specialist United States chain that draws most of its profit from re-selling games.
Recently, the company has announced that it is trying to move away from used games and make digital distribution and DLC one of the core components of its future strategy.
The company has always maintained that used game sales benefit the video game industry because they free up money that customers can then use to pick up new releases.