Braben forms six-point plan to tackle pre-owned market
Elite creator really wants a slice of the pre-owned sector
Frontier boss David Braben has written a list of ways that he sees are the best ways to tackle the problem of pre-owned sales.
Braben has been one of the most vocal opponents of the pre-owned market and has set out his stall accordingly in his latest blog article on Develop Online.
His first three suggestions are linked together beginning with the industry embracing the use of online passes and one-off DLC to encourage gamers to buy brand new games. The next step would be the industry-wide serial-numbering of discs allowing publishers to introduce ways to control the movement of copies of games. He also advocates the industry's participation of in pre-owned sales with the co-operation of retailers with publishers and developers holding off on the most extreme consequences of the serial-numbering in return for a cut of the profits.
He also suggests the introduction of 'Not for Resale' SKUs in measures similar to the movie industry's DVD measures. Another possibility is introducing cheaper demo-style discs containing an extended demo that requires to be validated online to access the full game. The final option is to make a move into full digital distribution and bypass retail altogether.
