Time to Allow Us to Resell Video Games
In addition to enabling the resale of digital games for the benefit of players, publishers, and platforms, Steam allows users to sell digital goods.
Digital game sales are similar to traditional game sales, except they generate revenue for platforms and developers through resale. Digital game resale gives players access to cheaper copies while also generating revenue for developers.
When you are through with physical games, one of the best things about them is that you can sell them or even give them away. The majority of us have games that have accumulated on our virtual shelves via digital downloads, and the only way to get rid of them is to hide or remove them from your library forever. So why do not we sell them to another party? Is it feasible?
Thousands of digital games that I have finished
Thousands of games are scattered throughout my many digital libraries. Since only a handful of games have held my attention long enough for me to watch the end credits, I have never finished the majority of them. That is not a problem for me because I always get my money's worth out of games that do not pique my attention.
There are not many games that I have consistently finished playing through, such as Nier Automata, Mass Effect, Diablo II, and DOOM. But I have played through most of the titles in my library at least once, if not more.
This is also, incidentally, the reason why I find that gaming subscription services are beneficial to me. However, I still have these virtual heaps of games that I would like to get rid of in order to potentially receive a portion of my money back. In the same way as I did with my real games.
It is Already Possible to Sell Digital Items to Other Players on Steam
Interestingly, Steam, the biggest PC digital marketplace, already has a mechanism in place that allows users to trade digital goods with one another. Simply said, you can only get these by earning trade cards from specific games.
The cards you earn can be listed for sale on the open market. If a buyer purchases the card, Steam will deduct a fee, and the remaining funds will be credited to your Steam wallet. In MMOs, users have also discovered ways to trade goods like gold or CS:GO skins. Although game makers have made an effort to curb this kind of activity, third-party platforms that link buyers and sellers of desirable digital goods have continued to exist.
In actuality, there is not a technical barrier preventing digital game stores from enabling game resale. Most significantly, since there are only a limited number of used digital copies in circulation and a small percentage of owners who wish to sell theirs, there is no chance that this will overwhelm the market for new copies of the game.
The Used Physical Game Problem is Solved by Digital Used Sales
The only thing preventing platforms like Steam from allowing us to sell our digital games is persuading publishers, developers, and the platforms themselves that this makes sound financial sense, save from a little amount of legal adjusting to software licenses. The original author is typically left out of future transactions in the world of used physical game sales. In theory, there is nothing wrong with that, but that is why we started to see strategies like DLC that is only used once or keys for multiplayer modes in games that are not transferable to new owners.
The marketplace for old digital games would probably take a portion of sales to cover the costs of the platform and the game publisher. This implies that the original content creators profit from each used digital game that is sold, and that there is a finite supply of used copies of the game that are always available. The players will need to purchase a fresh copy if those run out.
Naturally, what is the likely amount you could receive for your secondhand game? Every few months, a ton of digital games have huge sales, and there is unquestionably a trend toward undervaluing older games in favor of the newest, trendiest releases. The laws of supply and demand will govern the prices, just like they do with Steam trading cards. That being said, aside from giving the developers a portion of the transaction, it is not all that different from used game stores never paying top dollar for your used games.
Everyone Gains
It is still a win when you compare it to a digital game that sits in your virtual game library and is almost worthless, regardless of whether you can receive more for the game than you purchased or just a few cents on the dollar. In this case, everyone comes out ahead. Gamers can obtain less expensive secondhand copies of games or titles that might not be available for purchase.
Even when fresh copies are not for sale, used games will still be accessible. The resale of previously purchased games allows developers to make money. If there is a strong demand for a game, new copies will still sell on platforms like Steam, which provide them access to another market to skim from. Come on, guys—you understand that is what we desire.