UPDATED 17:00 EDT / MAY 27 2013

Was Xbox One Responsible for GameStop’s Stock Drop?

GameStop, the US retailer for used and new games, saw its stock price drop by 19 percent when Microsoft unwittingly announced its plans for used games: charge gamers more.

Last week, UK retailers made known Microsoft’s plans for generating more revenue from the used games market.  First, when a gamer sells his/her game to a retailer, the retailer must wipe the gamer’s game account of the said game so the new gamer who buys it will be able to play the game.  Microsoft and the game publisher will then take their respective cut; the retailer pocketing 10 percent or whatever is left after other cuts have been made.  The problem here is, aside from taking a cut from sales of used games, Microsoft plans on charging £35 (or $52) for game licenses of used games, which means buyers of second hand games could be paying more if they bought a used game rather than a new one.

Joining Kristin Feledy in this morning’s NewsDesk is NewsDesk Head Writer Winston Edmondson to give his Breaking Analysis on how Microsoft’s plan is affecting the used-game market.

“Gamestop had kind of a monopoly on used games.  So anyone that wanted to trade-in a used game would make that transaction at Gamestop and the consoles and the publishers would share none of those revenues.  With this new system, Xbox and Microsoft says that they want a piece of that action, and the publishers as well.  So getting into the mix kind of means that there’s a lot less money available for Gamestop and that’s troubling to a lot of investors,” Edmondson stated.

He also added that this is a completely new approach when it comes to used-games that has never been done before.  Not only will this mean bad for used-game retailers such as Gamestop, but it would also mean a lengthier process for gamers who want to dispose of their games.

Microsoft is giving publishers more control of their games with this model as there’s a possibility that some used games cannot be played on the Xbox One even if the old account has been wiped out.  At this point, some are thinking that Microsoft and game publishers are on the winning end of this deal, leaving retailers of used-games less profit, and gamers paying more instead of saving more.

Some are claiming that gamers aren’t happy with Microsoft’s plans for used-games but Gamestop president Tony Bartel stated that more 250,000 people expressed interest and signed up for Xbox One updates in just two day.  Could this mean that gamers won’t be fazed by the rumored licensing fees and possible increase in price of used-games?


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