Resale | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Mon, 21 Dec 2015 13:23:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Resale | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Valve sued again by consumer group over no-game resales https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/valve-sued-again-by-consumer-group-over-no-game-resales/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/valve-sued-again-by-consumer-group-over-no-game-resales/#comments Mon, 21 Dec 2015 08:57:07 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=278709 Valve is set to head to court in Europe once again, after another consumer group announced it was suing the Steam owner for not providing its users the ability to resell games that they had previously purchased. This time though, the group is French and they're annoyed at other things too, including some of the …

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Valve is set to head to court in Europe once again, after another consumer group announced it was suing the Steam owner for not providing its users the ability to resell games that they had previously purchased. This time though, the group is French and they're annoyed at other things too, including some of the content ownership rights on the Steam platform.

Although reselling games is a feature a lot of people have requested, citing that it would allow more people to buy more games with their pocketed change, Valve has already won this case in court in Germany. It pointed out that gamers were able to download and re-download their games at will and that technically made it a subscription more than an owned product.

Second hand digital products don't expire either, so the second hand market could stretch on to near-infinity. At least in the eyes of the court that originally looked at the case. It may be that a French one sees differently, but it will have plenty of other points to weight up first.

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You want the truth?! We're working on Half Life 3…

The group also wants to go after Valve for not taking responsibility when users are scammed or their accounts are hacked. That one may be difficult to argue too if users are clicking phishing links and logging in through dodgy sites, but as Kotaku points out, there was that hack back in 2011 where Valve took a while to let people on to what was happening.

The consumer group also doesn't like that Valve claims ownership of user-uploaded content, but it is non-exclusive, so can still be used elsewhere.

Finally, the French organisation doesn't like that you can't take money out of a Steam wallet. While that is annoying, it also removes a big incentive for hackers who may otherwise take over accounts and then transfer that money out of the Steam accounts very easily. The only bit that might be a stickler is that that money is taken away if your account is banned.

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KitGuru Says: How do you feel about some of the points raised by the consumer group? It has a leg to stand on in some respects, but you can bet Valve will be citing that German case where it already beat that first point. 

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Publishers can block you selling your Xbox One games https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/console-desktop-pc/jon-martindale/publishers-can-block-you-selling-your-xbox-one-games/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/console-desktop-pc/jon-martindale/publishers-can-block-you-selling-your-xbox-one-games/#respond Fri, 07 Jun 2013 11:33:28 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=137748 Cementing the idea of the future that we won't own any console games, merely rent licenses to play them, Microsoft has announced that while it personally won't stop you selling Xbox One games, game publishers will have the right and the ability, to opt out from resales as a feature of their title. Essentially, good …

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Cementing the idea of the future that we won't own any console games, merely rent licenses to play them, Microsoft has announced that while it personally won't stop you selling Xbox One games, game publishers will have the right and the ability, to opt out from resales as a feature of their title. Essentially, good luck reselling any EA game in the future without paying a fee.

On top of this, used games will only be sellable at participating retailers, which suggests that companies will need to apply to Microsoft to be considered. It seems likely that big names like Gamestop in the US and GAME here in the UK will make the cut, but what about the little stores? There's going to be a license fee or some hoops to jump through – otherwise it would just be a register of stores – and what are the chances that if you aren't a mega chain that you won't be eligible?

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I suddenly want to listen to Huey Lewis and the News…

However take this a step further and it means no ebay and no Gumtree. No selling a game to your friend. You can however “give” games to people, but only if they've been on your friends list for at least 30 days. What, your pal just bought an Xbox One and you want to lend him some of your games to get him started? Nope. Not allowed. Microsoft says so.

It did add the caveat that sometime in the future, it might allow you to loan the games out, but that “feature” wouldn't be available at launch.

Even if you take the games round and log in to your account on his system, you'll need to connect to the internet every hour or the games won't play. Have fun with that when the Microsoft server crashes for some reason.

But of course, it's not all gravy even if you're playing your games on your system. You'll need to connect to Microsoft's servers once a day in order to keep playing your games. Again, if Microsoft's servers go down, or in the future when they stop supporting the One, you will not be able to play any of the games you paid for.

KitGuru Says: You'll still be able to watch TV though. That's a relief, right guys?

Source: Microsoft blog (via Wired)

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German consumer group is suing Valve over used game sales block https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/german-consumer-group-is-suing-valve-over-used-game-sales-block/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/german-consumer-group-is-suing-valve-over-used-game-sales-block/#respond Thu, 31 Jan 2013 19:00:47 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=123664 Despite Valve changing its terms of service in recent months to make it impossible for users of the digital download platform to sue it, that hasn't stopped a German consumer protection group – VZBV – stepping up to the plate and announcing its intentions to sue the company on behalf of Steam's EU users. The …

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Despite Valve changing its terms of service in recent months to make it impossible for users of the digital download platform to sue it, that hasn't stopped a German consumer protection group – VZBV – stepping up to the plate and announcing its intentions to sue the company on behalf of Steam's EU users.

The legal complaint has been filed with the district court in Berlin according to a CinemaBlend interview with VZBV representative, Eva Hoffschulte (thanks PCGamesn). It was also outlined in a longer statement on the consumer group's website, which explained its efforts in the past to have Valve modify its terms of use to reflect better consumer protection. However those changes obviously haven't been enough, as it is pushing ahead with the legal action.

Breaking it down, VZBV believes that it's unfair of Valve to sell games through Steam at the same price as the physical copy, since a user cannot resell the digital version, while they can with the real world alternative. It also doesn't like that there are technical blocks put in place to prevent the reselling and that ultimately this halts the progress of digital distribution.

Apparently this is thinking long term, in a decade or two when every company could potentially have their own platform, with its own form of DRM by making you play the game through that company. It makes it very difficult for a consumer to make a choice when they are locked in with ownership.

Steam Sale
Steam might have great sales, but buying anything but a brand new game at any other time often gives you only one over-priced option

It seems a shame that in 2013 we're not able to resell our used games, as it was thought back in mid 2012 that we would all soon be able to do so.

KitGuru Says: While I love Steam, I agree with the consumer group here. If you pay for something you should own it, not just rent it from Valve. I know I have the ability to download a game whenever I want and that is something that should be offset in the cost of the title, but it must be said Steam is awful for having games still at full retail price years after release, while you'll find the physical copies for a couple of pounds at most retailers.

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GameStop considering resale of digital content https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/gamestop-considering-resale-of-digital-content/ https://www.kitguru.net/gaming/jon-martindale/gamestop-considering-resale-of-digital-content/#respond Fri, 27 Jul 2012 11:00:31 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=101564 US video game retailer GameStop and owner of the Impulse digital download platform, has said that it is currently mulling over the idea of allowing the resale of digital games. “It’s very interesting,” said GameStop CEO Paul Rains while speaking with GameSpot. “There are some technologies out there in Europe, and we've looked at a …

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US video game retailer GameStop and owner of the Impulse digital download platform, has said that it is currently mulling over the idea of allowing the resale of digital games.

“It’s very interesting,” said GameStop CEO Paul Rains while speaking with GameSpot. “There are some technologies out there in Europe, and we've looked at a couple that are involved. We’re interested; it’s not a meaningful business yet. Right now we’re not seeing that as a huge market, but I think we’re on the leading edge. There are a few companies, a few startups, out there that we've talked to that are doing this.”

It would probably only be a couple quid, but it's better than nothing

This revelation comes off the back of a European Court ruling that suggested companies had a legal obligation to allow their customers to resell software that they had bought, prompting many to apply this idea to games. However Valve said it had no plans to allow the resale of previously purchased games on Steam.

While Impulse is a lot smaller than Steam, adding the ability to resell games you've bought in the past would give it a very unique selling point. Making even just a few pounds back from a game you'll never play anymore would make buying games there much more attractive.

KitGuru Says: Would you buy a game on Impulse instead of Steam if you could resell it later?

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