One of the great benefits of being a console gamer is the thriving second-hand market. The fact that you can easily sell a game once completed makes the financial burden of being a gamer far less severe. When it comes to PC gaming, the playing field is very different. DRM and online-authentication make it difficult to sell, or even lend, a game after installing it.
Furthermore, more games are now sold via digital distribution models such as Steam than are sold in physical retail stores. There is currently no room for trade-ins in the digital market, and once a game is purchased, you are stuck with the licence key for life.
This may be set to change soon though, as rumours over a digital trade-in system being launched by Valve have reached a fever pitch. To lend the entire discussion some validity, top industry analyst Michael Pachter has told NowGamer in an interview that Valve is working on making game trade-ins a reality with Steam.
“Steam gives gamers enough other stuff so that they don’t resent the fact they can’t trade in their games. And you know, name all the Steam games that you’ve purchased that you’ve traded back in to somebody else for credit. Steam’s about to let you do that supposedly, you know like trade and exchange, but they’re going to take a fee from it,” said Pachter.
Obviously this is still firmly in rumour territory, but with local uncapped broadband now a viable option for many gamers, the idea of being able to get money back for Steam games you no longer want is appealing. How this will effect games bought on special is a concern which will need to be addressed. For instance, if you buy a game that is usually $40 for $10 on a limited special, how will the resale value of that game be effected?
It is an exciting prospect, and one which I’m sure Valve is at least considering. But we don’t expect any concrete announcements anytime soon.
Discuss the possibility of digital game trade-ins via Steam on the MyGaming forum.
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