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kkhas offered his two cents on the next-generation used games market, explaining he is confident
both Sony and Microsoft are happy to see it continue.
Speaking to Forbes, Tony Bartel reassured consumers that next-generation games will
still be bought and sold on the pre-owned market, as console manufacturers appreciate
it's a necessary facet of the marketplace.
"Both Sony and Microsoft have said games can be resold and that's exactly what we anticipated,"
he says. "It's a recognised way to make these games more affordable. All three new platforms
understand that."
Bartel says when people upgrade to new systems they tend to trade in their old systems and
libraries, which is why Sony decided not to support backwards compatibility with later
iterations of the PlayStation 3.
He continues: "That's why the 'buy, sell, trade' model works well. It enables people
to purchase new games by trading in their old ones. We expect to see the same thing
with this transition for PS4 and Xbox One. Trade-ins allow for a seamless transition."
But, Xbox One games apparently can't be shared between users without paying an additional
fee. So there is still some confusion as to how used next-gen games will work. If you
buy the used game from GameStop, and then have to pay an additional fee to Microsoft
to "unlock" that copy for your account, used games stand to become less of a value than
they have been.
Bartel revealed that 70 per cent of GameStop's $1 billion sales comes from new games rather
than pre-owned ones.
We'll continue chasing down Xbox One info here at IGN.