Quantic Dream: We Lost Millions to Pre-Owned Heavy Rain Sales
Argues games could be cheaper.
JASON!?!?! JAAAAYYY-SOOOOON.
The debate on the role of the pre-owned gaming market continued this morning, as French studio Quantic Dream claimed it "lost between €5 and €10 million worth of royalties" to consumers buying Heavy Rain second hand.
In an interview with GamesIndustry, co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere said that he came to this number by comparing how many copies the game sold with the amount of players registering trophies on PlayStation Network.
"On my small level it's a million people playing my game without giving me one cent," de Fondaumiere said. A little bit unscientific, but you can see his point. He added that he recognises that without second hand trade, many players would not have the opportunity to even play full-price £40 games, but argued that it wasn't the right approach for the industry.
"I'm not so sure this is the right approach... when developers and publishers alike see that they can't make a living out of producing games that are sold through retail channels, because of second hand gaming, they will simply stop making these games. And we'll all simply go online and to direct distribution. So I don't think that in the long run this is a good thing for retail distribution either."
Cheaper games could be the answer, the Quantic Dream founder concluded. "I've always said that games are probably too expensive, so there's probably a right level here to find, and we need to discuss this altogether and try to find a way to I would say reconcile consumer expectations, retail expectations but also the expectations of the publisher and the developers to make this business a worthwhile business."
In an interview with GamesIndustry, co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere said that he came to this number by comparing how many copies the game sold with the amount of players registering trophies on PlayStation Network.
"On my small level it's a million people playing my game without giving me one cent," de Fondaumiere said. A little bit unscientific, but you can see his point. He added that he recognises that without second hand trade, many players would not have the opportunity to even play full-price £40 games, but argued that it wasn't the right approach for the industry.
"I'm not so sure this is the right approach... when developers and publishers alike see that they can't make a living out of producing games that are sold through retail channels, because of second hand gaming, they will simply stop making these games. And we'll all simply go online and to direct distribution. So I don't think that in the long run this is a good thing for retail distribution either."
Cheaper games could be the answer, the Quantic Dream founder concluded. "I've always said that games are probably too expensive, so there's probably a right level here to find, and we need to discuss this altogether and try to find a way to I would say reconcile consumer expectations, retail expectations but also the expectations of the publisher and the developers to make this business a worthwhile business."
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Comments
realvictory 12 Sep 2011 12:28
1/7
Cheaper games, or they could provide a trade-in service for their own games...
bertybassett 12 Sep 2011 12:42
2/7
a bit like the online pass plus stuff that they sell for £6 a pop. You know a second hand game and to play online you need a £6 licence.
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headcasephil 12 Sep 2011 14:25
3/7
1 easy fix would be for a yearly trade in fee that high street shops have to pay depending on how many pre owned units were sold.
as every thing is on data sheets now it would be sort easy ish
as every thing is on data sheets now it would be sort easy ish
irritant 12 Sep 2011 15:29
4/7
Easy fix? Enforceable how and by whom? Easy fix is to move entirely to digital distribution and cut out the many unnecessary middlemen.
The main problem with the video games industry and pricing is that there are too many people trying to make money out of it. Developers, publishers, platform holders, distribution and retail. Probably others. Cut out the retail and the distribution entirely and cut out some of the publishers (there will always be developers who do better for having experienced publishers to publicise for them) and the world will be a better place. Or at least the games industry will be.
The main problem with the video games industry and pricing is that there are too many people trying to make money out of it. Developers, publishers, platform holders, distribution and retail. Probably others. Cut out the retail and the distribution entirely and cut out some of the publishers (there will always be developers who do better for having experienced publishers to publicise for them) and the world will be a better place. Or at least the games industry will be.
headcasephil 12 Sep 2011 16:09
5/7
@irritant
considering that the little indipendent shops are pritty much gone
big corps are left and data records are stored of every game that is sold traded it would be easy ( sort of )
for ever say 100 pre owned sku that is sold a % is given to the dev's
and the digital only would not work and i feel that it would put a hell of a lot of people off gaming you must remeber we that can are in a lucky place as there are loads of people that can not do this
i dont buy as much of steam now that im back on a 8meg conection because it take far too long then there are the people that have no internet at all
look at the psp go did it do well No it should have but people like the cases that they can show off its 1 off are weston things we do
considering that the little indipendent shops are pritty much gone
big corps are left and data records are stored of every game that is sold traded it would be easy ( sort of )
for ever say 100 pre owned sku that is sold a % is given to the dev's
and the digital only would not work and i feel that it would put a hell of a lot of people off gaming you must remeber we that can are in a lucky place as there are loads of people that can not do this
i dont buy as much of steam now that im back on a 8meg conection because it take far too long then there are the people that have no internet at all
look at the psp go did it do well No it should have but people like the cases that they can show off its 1 off are weston things we do
IIBORNII 12 Sep 2011 17:19
6/7
That cost will be passed on to the consumer so we'll all just end up paying more for second hand games. No other industry bitches about the second market like the computer games industry. Does Steven King complain because he's not receiving a cut on second hand copies of The Shining? Does a furniture maker expected to be paid everytime a table changes hands? Online multiplayer and DLC provide customers with reasons to hold on to theirs games by increasing longevity but at the end of the day once I've finished with a game what's wrong with me selling it on at a reduced price to recoup some of my hard earned cash? I'm sure they'd all love us to pay full price for digital content with no resale value but without a fair trade-in scheme I'm going to hold onto physical releases thank you.
gingineer 12 Sep 2011 17:33
7/7
I held on to my copy for a year before i sold it. in which time i lent it to 2 friends who both completed it. so its not just second hand copies that create the extra trophy's!