David Braben, founder of Frontier Developments, says retail outlets that buy and sell pre-owned games are “essentially defrauding the industry.” Although multiplayer gaming might not be a huge threat, the single player experience in games may die out because gamers play the game quickly and resell it back to places like GameStop for others to buy.

Developers don’t get a dime when a game goes traded, many gamers will “share” the single player experience with a single copy of the game by reselling it over and over. The end result, retail outlets make a good penny for marking up old games while developers see nothing. This is really how game retail outlets survive because the margins on video games is so damn low.

The story has been heard before, developers want a piece of the action so they’re taking steps to entice people to keep the game with renewed downloadable content on old games; you can’t experience the new content without keeping the game around longer. In the world of low margin games, high cost development and short-lived story lines the solutions to this problem aren’t exactly obvious.

Braben’s idea of a solution is to offer two versions of the game, a not for resale/rental version at a high price, say $160, and a low priced version that cannot be shared (heavily DRM’ed?) for $50. In essence, gamers would no longer be able to trade in games because the idea of spending double for a game so you can resell it makes no sense to most gamers (including myself.)

Imagine, spending double for a game to be stabbed in the back at a GameStop for getting a quarter of its worth to be resold for almost MSRP again. Sounds like a great time. Not really. Although rental stores may be the exception to the rule, as it’s not a standard gamer, having them pay more for the title isn’t in their best interest as things are going fine for them now.

One major reason rental stores exist is because gamers cannot afford to buy every game they want to play. If rental stores were gone, gamers wouldn’t go out and buy ten games a quarter because they have no choice… they’ll just play less games. If gamers play less games there is a great chance they won’t experience your cool games, like Frontier Development’s Lost Winds, at all.

If a gamer never gets the chance to experience your game because they can’t rent them, you’ll find them less loyal and less likely to purchase your games in the future. As a gamer, I may rent a game because I’m not going to risk buying a product I can’t return and don’t like. However, if I do indeed love the game I may go out and purchase it for real or consider a buy on the sequel. Remember, most retail stores have a exchange-only policy once you’ve unwrapped the title (exchange for the SAME title that is.)

Rental outlets exist because they arrived to fill a demand to experience games, movies and entertainment on the cheap. The entertainment industry is full of great products and experiences but the wallet is limited in its ability to pay for said entertainment. Consider it a way to market your games to the masses and find more creative ways to draw them in and want to own it.

Market your potential sequels in the initial title, make gamers fall in love with the single player story and add a desire to purchase future titles. Give the gamer a behind-the-scenes movie in the game box or on the disc so they can feel a personal tie with the makers of the game and show them your crew is more than a simple logo; make gamers want to like your studio and share in the experience that went into making it. DVD’s have been doing this for years, what about games?

Don’t expect retail outlets and game players to feel bad for your inability to make money on your games. You made the decision to get into development so lie in the bed you made. It’s not fraud, it’s reality and consumers have been trading products for thousands of years, Craig’s List wouldn’t be where it is today if there wasn’t a constant demand for trading products to save a little cash.

(Thanks, 1up)

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