Ubisoft 'Will Probably' Start Bundling Free DLC with New Games 'Sometime in the Future'
"We have the system in place to actually generate more revenue on the second-hand market," added Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, as transcribed by Kotaku. "We have been using keys starting last year on our products. Those keys were allowing some customers to have content if they were buying the product in specific stores."
Used in such Electronic Arts games as Mass Effect 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 along with Microsoft titles like Alan Wake and Forza Motorsport 3, the strategy sees new copies of the game come with a one-use code for free downloadable add-ons.
Meanwhile, those that play a second-hand copy of the game--rented, borrowed, used--must pay an additional fee for that same content, a move that helps publishers recoup the lack of revenue from used sales. According to Electronic Arts, the system also helps fight piracy and makes gamers more aware of the add-on "ecosystem."
Electronic Arts recently announced an extension of the program, dubbed "Online Pass," that restricts the online multiplayer component of participating games to those that either buy them new, pay an additional $10, or make use of a free seven-day trial.
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ShadowRam
replyHuh. Guess they finally realized it was the 'buy used' market that has been fucking them all this time, and not so much the pirates.
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Yeah, I don't think it's hurting them as much as they're saying. I'm sure there is an impact, but just as there is an impact in the used sales of anything. However, I would think a lot of times that the money people make on selling games will more often than not go back into the purchase of other games.
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Two possible ways. First, people trading in their old games allows them to purchase more new games. Second, people trading in their old games gives them more of a reason to buy the sequel. I mean, if you look at PC, a lot of people are playing games that are pretty old. Generic Console Shooter 2 comes out and people trade in GCS1 to get a few dollars off the sequel.
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A person who plays used games then trades in those used games is likely to just buy another used game and not a new game. After all, people go after used games because they're cheaper, and won't be swayed by extra content, unless it's the same price.
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But people initially trading in those "new" games are likely to put it towards other new games. While I don't like what shops like Gamestop are doing, killing off the second market is not likely going to improve the situation. If people can't sell their games they will likely end up just buying less games. Overall I think this practice could end up hurting the industry more than it would help.
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And it now has her group of friends who are all posh bitches and won't invite "ugly girls" to their drinking parties.
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