GameStop: Ten Dollar "not compelling"

By Robert Purchese Published 18 March, 2010

US mega-retailer unperturbed by EA scheme.

GameStop's COO Paul Raines doesn't reckon the second-hand market will suffer at the hand of initiatives like EA's Project Ten Dollar.

"Through our years in the used business we have learned that the second-hand user is a value-oriented consumer. The average price of a used Xbox [360] game is twenty dollars, so we don't believe that a ten-dollar add-on piece of downloadable content is compelling to a used-game buyer," he told investors during a Q4 2009 earnings call this afternoon.

"We are encouraging publishers to offer add-on content for new titles at a higher price and then a lower-price option for used games. In fact, publishers can participate in our used business by offering add-on content for the most popular used titles, creating a win-win situation for publishers, retailers and consumers.

"GameStop will also assist in expanding the sales of DLC as we can market and execute the sale right in our stores to the millions of customers coming through our doors," he added, talking of the new in-store DLC sales GameStop plans to implement soon.

Project Ten Dollar - used in games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins - tries to dissuade traders by offering first-hand buyers exclusive DLC codes for content worth around $10.

Earlier today, GameStop posted annual earnings that were slightly down on previous - fiscal 2008 - year. However, used game sales were a silver lining, and GameStop expects growth of five to 10 per cent this year in that area. Head over to GamesIndustry.biz for the full financial report.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (22) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Froggit #1 2 years ago

    He says, stamping his feet.

  • Sanxo #2 2 years ago

    "...he told investors during a Q4 2009 earnings call this afternoon."

    Which you can read as

    "Don't panic and don't dump our stock most of our profit doesn't come from 2nd hand sales, honest!"

    edit...one day I'll learn to read what I type before submitting, honest
    Edited by 2 at 18/03/10 @ 17:31

  • fongy #3 2 years ago

    To be honest, I think it's an interesting idea...
    It has stopped me from buying 2nd hand games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2 - knowing that there's a freebie code for extra content... How 'fair' it is, is another thing...
    However, if you wait literally a couple of weeks - the price drops on a game that makes it more than comparable to 2nd hand prices anyway - multiplayer maps and the like however, wouldn't really convince me not to buy 2nd hand - it would have to be additional "real" content that enhances single player, etc.
    I think 2nd hand games do have their place - but if they continuously cuts profits on new games - that could have a serious impact on future releases and developers... and that isn't good for anyone!

  • Machetazo #4 2 years ago

    Looks like GameStop has been caught off-guard. Publishers should keep to their existing initiative of improving the value of the brand new copy, over the used. Because participation in the 'program' is automatic and with zero inconvenience to the consumer, I think it's an ideal solution to helping ensure that more profit goes to the creators of games.

  • ignatiusjreilly #5 2 years ago

    There are basic rules of hyperlinking on the internet, and one of them is don't link to an article that makes you register with another site to read it. If you must, because it is the only source of that information, then you should warn the reader first.

  • iamian #6 2 years ago

    It is an interesting idea, but I think that if you buy new, then ANY additional content (within reason) later added should be free (I haven't played ME2 with it's Cerberus network yet but that sounds like the right kind of thing - is that right?). Certainly with DA:o I didn't think the extra content was "$10" worth, and then everything else that came out afterwards I would have had to pay for anyway.

    Trial and error - I think there will come a point when it starts to work for all parties involved.

  • Murton #7 2 years ago

    "The average price of a used Xbox [360] game is twenty dollars"

    I don't think this guy understands the "Ten Dollar" initiative at all, it's meant to make buying new copies more compelling during the early months where used sales are most damaging, and I very much doubt that the "twenty dollar" average applies to games in their first three months after release.

    Personally I'm all for "Project Ten Dollar" as long as EA don't get too carried away with it, so far they've been really quite reasonable with it. Dragon Age and Mass Effect for example offer excellent value on that ten dollar freebie, Bad Company 2 not so much, though they could have more in the pipeline for later I suppose.

  • Freek #8 2 years ago

    If a person buys a game second hand and then gets the additional content via Live or PSN that's still a revenue stream for EA that did not exist in the past. Wich makes Project 10 dollar a sensibel way to treat the second hand games market.

  • seanthejackal #9 2 years ago

    15 dollar? okay then 10 dollar!

  • FenderMaster #10 2 years ago

    i've always been all for this idea. it's a great way to incentivise people to buy games new, without affecting first time buyers at all, while still giving them the option of selling their property. i don't know what proportion of sales are second hand, but i'd imagine it reduces first hand sales by qute alot. potentially hundreds of thousands of game sales from game stores with no profit going to the games creators was undeniably a very bad thing.

    some might argue that people can sell books, cds, movies etc, but thats not quite the same, theres no huge international franchise offering second hand cds, books and dvds mere days after release, it's the scale thats the big problem.

  • brod #11 2 years ago

    Video game stores selling a second hand copy of a new release game to someone when they would otherwise have bought a new copy is just as damaging to the industry as piracy, if not more so.

    For this reason I no longer buy games from stores that sell second hand games, and I urge anyone who cares about the future of the gaming industry to adopt the same policy.

  • FooAtari #12 2 years ago

    @brod
    For this reason I no longer buy games from stores that sell second hand games, and I urge anyone who cares about the future of the gaming industry to adopt the same policy.

    Ill start caring about the games industry (and the millions and millions of pounds it generates) when it starts caring about me.

  • Gastrian #13 2 years ago

    His statement is a bit misleading;

    "The average price of a used Xbox [360] game is twenty dollars,"

    That may be true but over here in the UK the average second hand price for a newly released game is £5 less at most, I've even seen some which are only £2 cheaper than the first hand copy. As long as the content is worth the extra $10 or equivalent you spend then it'll only ever be an advantage to the buyer. If EA really want to push it they should pull the Warden's Keep tactic http://ww w.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/1... but make the user aware its only for people who bought a first hand copy.

  • doulema #14 2 years ago

    "We are encouraging publishers to offer add-on content for new titles at a higher price and then a lower-price option for used games."

    Ofc. Gamestop just care enough to make sure to make some profit out of used tittles too and they have no issues encouraging them to rip us off with the online contents they sell us since Gamestop etc make no money out of it. Well f*** you too Gamestop for being so thoughtful. :) if 10+ Euros arent enough for a damn addon, specially when its already on the freaking disk like it was on Bioshock 2 they might as well stop counting on expansions cause I'm from those that will rather make a point by stop purchasing those all together.

  • metalangel #15 2 years ago

    It isn't really compelling, no. The three EA games I've bought recently haven't exactly given me "ten dorrah" content I couldn't bear to be without. Saboteur (a few more hiding places, and tits), Dragon Arse (crap armour and a forgettable NPC), Bad Company 2 (enabling different play modes on existing maps that by rights should have them anyway), all very very underwhelming. Sorry EA, you've failed, unless there is a serious upping of the ante I am just going to wait a week and buy your stuff second hand.

  • StooMonster #16 2 years ago

    Maybe 2K should've made the Bioshock 2 DLC "Ten Dollar"?

  • Johnhost #17 2 years ago

    EA's other ace in the hole is adding multiplayer content to every game. Games like Call of Duty which continue to have high resell values and people hold on to for a long time are due to good multiplayer and EA wants to follow that trend with every title.

    Here is an idea. Why not allow for subcription game model over Xbox Live? Players pay a montly fee and get unlimited games to download and play as long as they want. They could even offer a DLC subscription add on. To keep a game permantly you simply buy it like Games on Demand.

  • aled #18 2 years ago

    @Gastrian

    Raines is talking about the average preowned price, not just for new releases, so I don't think it's misleading.

  • callum9999 #19 2 years ago

    Fendermaster - the sole reason for that is a new book, cd or dvd doesn't even come close to a new game. If those items were £50 each then I can guarantee there would be a chain offering second hand sales.

  • sneetch #20 2 years ago

    I think they've missed the point a bit, the main aim of "Project 10 Dollar" is to get some money out of second hand sales and encourage people to buy new by giving them something they don't get if they buy second hand rather than to prevent second hand sales outright.

  • Gastrian #21 2 years ago

    @ Aled

    Its all about the context of the statement that is important and misleading, not the exact wording. The average pre-powned game may be $20 but that average would include PS2 games which are generally £5 or less (sorry for using different currencies but I'm British and on a lunch break so don't have the time to check the US second-hand sites), sports games which normally drop by 75% after a year and all those really old PC games which are being sold for about £2-5.

    Project 10$ on the otherhand is almost exclusively dedicated to the first 6-12 months of retail, for example the Shale DLC will no longer be free as of April even on a newly boxed product. In light of this the average pre-owned price doesn't have any real relevance and the comment is misleading as its deliberately painting an inaccurate picture, what is relevant is the price of a 2nd hand game game compared to a first hand game for those first few months after release and on average they are only £5 apart.

  • TeaFiend #22 2 years ago

    When he says publishers can help with "and then a lower-price option for used games." he missed the point. Publishers have jack all to do with used games, that is the games shops. Publishers get nothing for used sales and do not set prices.