14 DAY TRIAL // The MI6 game marketing conference is known for the way it presents relevant issues to the game industry from a clear business perspective. This year, the focus is on the way the used game is becoming somewhat of an important business element for the videogame industry. According to a report of the consultancy and research firm OTX, the used software market in the U.S. is projected to be $1.3 billion (not including systems or accessories).
Some 45 million gamers, or more than 60% of the total number of gamers in the United States, buy and play more both used and new games, while some 29 million gamers buy only new games. There's a significant niche of about 2.3 million people that only buy used games. The people that sell used games mainly use the money they get to buy other new games. There's a whole game-buying cycle developing in which people pre-order a game or buy it within the first week from launch, then play it for about a month or two only to later re-sell the game for more than half of the original price they paid and launch this cycle again with another new game. Of the 26 million people that sell their games, more than 19 million use the money solely to get new games for their collections. There's even a sort of mantra that OTX has identified in the declarations of such gamers, that goes "the faster they play and finish a game, the higher its resale value will be." Apparently the most powerful three reasons to hold on to a game are "replayability, lovable characters, and socially engaging gameplay," while the three least important factors are, somewhat surprisingly, "critical acclaim, developer loyalty, and collector's editions."
One of the main reasons to sell a game is that it's not very good; then, there is the completion of the game and the need for money to buy a new game. The "game gluttons," as the study names the perpetual buyers then sellers, are driving the videogame market higher than expected, as they produce, on conservative estimates, some 414 million in games sales, which is abut 5% of the entire market.
Apparently, titles like Carnival Games (Wii), Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3), Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3), BioShock (X360), Saints Row (X360) and Crysis (PC) are the main items on sale in the used game market, while titles like Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, Super Mario Galaxy, Halo 3, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are the main games that don't get sold again.
OTX projects an increase in the used games market for 2008 and, depending on the severity of the US economic downturn, it could be a pretty heavy increase. GameStop is set to profit from such an increase, as most re-sold games are bought and sold at GameStop.
OTX only analyzed the American videogame market. What do our readers think? Do you buy used games? Do you sell your games? Which are the games that you hold on to?