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At a time when even critically-praised games often fail to hit their sales figures, some people have questioned the impact of the pre-owned market.
But in the eyes of Neil Ashurst, head of public relations at GAME, second-hand sales ultimately benefit publishers and consumers alike.
“It’s not about taking money away from developers and publishers,” said Ashurst, speaking to VideoGamer at the BAFTA’s London headquarters. “What it actually does do is drive the next new release.
“Because much more is being invested in games, obviously the suggested retail price is going up. If we can help people buy into a publisher’s next game there’s an element of that, as a retailer, that we want to offer to our customers. It’s good for them and it’s good for us.
“It’s not about taking money away from a publisher. It’s actually about making their product – and the next big product and the next big product after that – accessible to as many of their consumer base as possible.”
When pushed further, and asked if publishers had anything to fear from the pre-owned market, Ashurst replied:
“I don’t believe so. We use it as a tactic to deliver more sales, as well as delivering great value to the customer – so what is there to fear from that?”
Ashurst was speaking to VideoGamer at a ceremony announcing the nominees for the GAME Award at this year’s BAFTA’s. If you’d like to submit your vote, you can do so here.
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