Used game sales are killing single player games says industry veteran

According to industry veteran, David Braben, the second hand games market is killing single player games.

Braben is credited with creating Elite, and is now the boss of Kinectimals developer Frontier Developments.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Braben argues that stores are less likely to order as many units of single player games because they are aware that many gamers will simply buy them second hand.

As a result, developers are less likely to create single player games.

“The real problem when you think about it brutally, if you look at just core gamer games, pre-owned has really killed core games,” he said.

“In some cases, it’s killed them dead. I know publishers who have stopped games in development because most shops won’t reorder stock after initial release, because they rely on the churn from the resales.

“It’s killing single player games in particular, because they will get pre-owned, and it means your day one sales are it, making them super high risk. I mean, the idea of a game selling out used to be a good thing, but nowadays, those people who buy it on day one may well finish it and return it.”

Do you buy games second-hand? Do you think you are depriving the developer of their deserved revenue from the product? Let us know in the comments below and on the MyGaming forum.