Game Companies get a big kick in the nuts due to EU Ruling.

[Tiaexz]

http://www.thegameeffect.com/news/eu...-digital-games

The new EU ruling means once you bought something, you own it. This has drastic effects on the markets as many platforms such as steam will have to start accommodating this ruling and allow the reselling of games from your Steam account (probably to other Steam users).

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

[Chaotix]

http://www.thegameeffect.com/news/eu...-digital-games

The new EU ruling means once you bought something, you own it. This has drastic effects on the markets as many platforms such as steam will have to start accommodating this ruling and allow the reselling of games from your Steam account (probably to other Steam users).

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Hmm... This is interesting to be sure.

But does Steam actually have to accommodate reselling of games? Sure, the EU now says it's legal to do so, but there's nothing saying Steam has to help their customers do it. Basically, they will have to change or remove their End User License Agreements to follow the new law in Europe, and that's it.

And there's another question about whether Steam actually has to do anything about it at all. It's an international company, and many of its users are not subject to the EU's laws. Perhaps the most it means is that they can't bring piracy charges against Europeans who find a way to re-sell their digital copies.

[rajpoot]

Perhaps the most it means is that they can't bring piracy charges against Europeans who find a way to re-sell their digital copies.

I don't think reselling digital copies would be possible until they actually facilitate it themselves, since a point to note is that the copy should be disabled for the original user after he sells it.
So even if people resort to copying games and 'selling' it to someone, their own copy would still work. Which will be against this law.

This is a real hot thing though. The first outlet to incorporate this into their policy stands to gain a lot.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I think it's a good idea that will have rather bad consequences. More games will become subscription/always online based and digital distributors may simply not do business within the EU.

[ICantSpellDawg]

Well, they could allow you to transfer the game to a different steam user account. That couldn't be too hard. You could gift it back and forth between your friends. Only one person could use the license at one time. This would probably not ding sales much. Re-selling the game should not be lawful, it would be an un-used copy, it would be a fresh download. It used to be that physical copies were scratched or the multilayer might not have worked. Allowing people to sell an unused perfect copy isn't particularly fair for the developers, but allowing them to gift it should be ok.

[Montmorency]

More games will become subscription/always online based and digital distributors may simply not do business within the EU.

I don't see how the former follows.

As for the latter: "This might over time dent our revenue flow in Europe." "Really? I suppose we should immediately give up on all European revenue." "

Hmmm...

The distributors could of course create bespoke platforms for those selling used - buying a digital license off Ebay or whatever obviously wouldn't be too secure - and take x% off the sale price for themselves as a fee. Here, they could be satisfied with a small cut and try to add some value with exclusive content, or jack it up to make used digital games/licenses unappealing next to the distributors' own prices.

I have a hard time imagining how it would work in the music industry, however.

[ICantSpellDawg]

I don't see how the former follows.

As for the latter: "This might over time dent our revenue flow in Europe." "Really? I suppose we should immediately give up on all European revenue." "

Hmmm...

The distributors could of course create bespoke platforms for those selling used - buying a digital license off Ebay or whatever obviously wouldn't be too secure - and take x% off the sale price for themselves as a fee. Here, they could be satisfied with a small cut and try to add some value with exclusive content, or jack it up to make used digital games/licenses unappealing next to the distributors' own prices.

I have a hard time imagining how it would work in the music industry, however.

I couldn't agree more. The games are mini governments. They could "tax" your economic activity for revenue. If it is their markets and their bandwidth facilitating the trades, they should get a cut. Additionally, a players online profile or game may contain player specific language that is not alterable. If you buy your own fresh, it is specifically yours. Buy "used" and it will always feel like someone elses, but you've saved money. Create value added and value subtracted propositions for the customer.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

I don't see how the former follows.

You can't sell someone an MMO subscription or a Battle.net account - you are not paying for the game, you are paying to have your account maintained. I think it would be very easy to legally distinguish a singleplayer game that you buy once for $60 versus a game that charges $15 a month to play but they keep your account open when you don't pay. The former feels more like a tangible object (that could be returned, or resold, or lent to a friend) while the latter isn't.

Just like you can buy a game for your XBOX and sell it back used to Gamestop, but you can't buy a month of EVE online and then sell it back to EVE or Steam or wherever you bought it.

As for the latter: "This might over time dent our revenue flow in Europe." "Really? I suppose we should immediately give up on all European revenue." "

It will depend on how the ruling is enforced. I can easily see some distributors temporarily shutting down EU operations while figuring out the legal way to get around this - such as setting things up as subscriptions.

[spankythehippo]

Hmmm. I don't think this will work. An eBay for digitally-distributed games? With pre-owned games, there is a reason why it's cheaper than brand new ones. Physical condition is the main one (if not, the only reason), but how will that work with Steam games? If people buy games and then sell them on Steam, no one will be buying off Steam itself. The only solution is to only release AAA titles, that more people will buy. And fewer people will sell.

Or, if you decide to sell, a portion of the resell value goes to Steam.

[Montmorency]

You can't sell someone an MMO subscription or a Battle.net account - you are not paying for the game, you are paying to have your account maintained. I think it would be very easy to legally distinguish a singleplayer game that you buy once for $60 versus a game that charges $15 a month to play but they keep your account open when you don't pay. The former feels more like a tangible object (that could be returned, or resold, or lent to a friend) while the latter isn't.

Just like you can buy a game for your XBOX and sell it back used to Gamestop, but you can't buy a month of EVE online and then sell it back to EVE or Steam or wherever you bought it.

Companies that choose to follow such a model exclusively will suffer, very quickly.

Very few MMOs can expect to attain millions of persistent paid subscribers; to applywhat is essentally a rental-only model, wherein the license is renewed monthly or even yearly, to any and every sort of game and out there and every future release, will create a pretty significant backlash, as well as a windfall for more prudent competitors.

Any company stupid enough to force a subscription model on all its customers because they refuse to pay the big bucks up front for each release deserves to die - and will.

[Hooahguy]

Well, they could allow you to transfer the game to a different steam user account. That couldn't be too hard. You could gift it back and forth between your friends. Only one person could use the license at one time. This would probably not ding sales much. Re-selling the game should not be lawful, it would be an un-used copy, it would be a fresh download. It used to be that physical copies were scratched or the multilayer might not have worked. Allowing people to sell an unused perfect copy isn't particularly fair for the developers, but allowing them to gift it should be ok.

The problem with that is that if you gift it back and forth only one person payed for it while many benefit.

What it should be is a reselling system where you have the option of "un-binding" a CD key to your account. Then you can resell it.

[Tiaexz]

And there's another question about whether Steam actually has to do anything about it at all. It's an international company, and many of its users are not subject to the EU's laws.

Best example of this is actually German law. They have very strong customer laws and many online retailers from Steam, League of Legends and Heroes of Neweth have to abide by the laws.

A friend of mine did actually test the water though, by sending in an email to Steam for the list of activatable keys for a few games they own so they can sell on. Would be curious to see that reply.