Sell your unwanted games

[SmartyMarty1992]

I had an idea, and was wondering if you guys think the same, so all your games you haven't played in a lot time and / or don't want anymore, how about Steam lets us sell our unwanted games for lest say 50-75% of the original price we paid? what do you guys think?

[Nx Machina]

You OWN a licence to download, install and play a game only, nothing more nothing less.

[Aachen]

... if I never installed (“unwrapped?” ) my used digital goodservice, will it become a collectible?!

[ElvisDeadly]

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

I had an idea, and was wondering if you guys think the same, so all your games you haven't played in a lot time and / or don't want anymore, how about Steam lets us sell our unwanted games for lest say 50-75% of the original price we paid? what do you guys think?

What exactly do you think you 'own' that you can sell on?

There is no such thing as second hand in a digital world of infinite copies.

[wuddih]

there is a reason i call digital content accounts, "value accounts".
the foundation for this to be legally enforced is in the making since years.

it will come one day, but certainly not as this pipe-dream.

[Start_Running]

wuddih の投稿を引用：

there is a reason i call digital content accounts, "value accounts".
the foundation for this to be legally enforced is in the making since years.

it will come one day, but certainly not as this pipe-dream.

And that will be the day the gaming industry pivot hard into games as a serve and streaming.

[[N]ebsun]

Start_Running の投稿を引用：

Personal is an interesting point since each license is only ever issue to one (UND ONLY VON) account one could say it is personal. We can get the same game but the license key for my copy will not be the same as yours. Neither will the accountId the game checks for. A license will only ever link to one account.

When buying a house in my country, there is a transfer of a contract between the government and the land "owner" to the new land "owner" - essentially a license to use the land specified in the contract. It is a personal contract, since the parties are named specifically, but it is also transferable. Each contract specifies a specific section of land.

(government owns all the land, and issued contracts to divide it up - each section of land has a contract that was created at that time, and those contracts are passed on as the ownership of the land is sold or transferred on.. actually the only thing that is transferred is the contract, and whoever is named in it "owns" the land it specifies).

It might sound like it is different from a game license, since it might seem like game licenses are "infinite" (and land is finite) - but as you pointed out, each game license is also unique.

[SmartyMarty1992]

I mean, so that you can help someone who wants that game by selling them your game you don't want anymore, Steam is willing to think about the idea, but I need enough voters for them to think about it, it would be based on a setting where, you have a game a mate of yours has it in their wishlist, so you can sell them that game for 50% of what you totally paid (including all the DLC's), yes I know you can gift someone a game by buying it for them, but that's not the point I'm trying to make

[Start_Running]

Nebsun の投稿を引用：

Start_Running の投稿を引用：

Personal is an interesting point since each license is only ever issue to one (UND ONLY VON) account one could say it is personal. We can get the same game but the license key for my copy will not be the same as yours. Neither will the accountId the game checks for. A license will only ever link to one account.

When buying a house in my country, there is a transfer of a contract between the government and the land "owner" to the new land "owner" - essentially a license to use the land specified in the contract. It is a personal contract, since the parties are named specifically, but it is also transferable. Each contract specifies a specific section of land.

Yes because land is, by its nature in the legal framework meant to be transfered. (one way or another) It is a physical thing that exists.. Can you do the same with life Insurance in your country? Gym Membership?

I think if you look it up it is essentially the terminattion of one contract. and the creation of a new contract.

It might sound like it is different from a game license, since it might seem like game licenses are "infinite" (and land is finite) - but as you pointed out, each game license is also unique.

Yes and thuisly when you transfer a game from one account to the other you are in fact going to create a new game license. WHich requires an act from the publisher and distribution platform.

[Brian9824]

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

Steam is willing to think about the idea,

Says who? It's not up to steam at all, its actually up to the license holder aka the game devs. Steam can't resell their games without their permission.

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

but I need enough voters for them to think about it, it would be based on a setting where, you have a game a mate of yours has it in their wishlist, so you can sell them that game for 50% of what you totally paid (including all the DLC's)

Umm yeah that would never happen. For one why would steam or the dev's ever agree to it? What benefit is there to Steam or the developers

Steam sells NON TRANSFERABLE licenses. Its a STANDARD of licensing, and the law would have to be completely re-written to allow

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

I had an idea, and was wondering if you guys think the same, so all your games you haven't played in a lot time and / or don't want anymore, how about Steam lets us sell our unwanted games for lest say 50-75% of the original price we paid? what do you guys think?

How much of that money will you get?

You're talking about a market where the publisher and Steam can together already cut you out of all of any money you might get from such a sale.

If you get to sell your game cheaper, you undercut them, and they don't like it. Also you get very little money, considering that stuff is regularly discounted to -50%, -75%, and beyond.

If you get to sell your game for the same price, they'd simply prefer people buy from them directly.

If you get to sell your game for a higher price, no one buys your copy.

Furthermore, the problem is how all of this works is that there's no way for you to just sell something to someone else. Anyone who wants to buy the game can go to Steam and buy stuff at their own convenience. Your "used" copy isn't any better; it's actually functionally identical. Either way, Steam just loads the data from their servers onto the new customer's computer.

It just feels like "your" copy of a game, but in actuality it's just whether or not Steam will send you the data and whether or not Steam lets you pay it. It's ultimately all controlled at Steam's end anyway.

(And all that stuff about licensing really isn't what controls this situation. It's the practicalities that really dictate how this works.)

[SmartyMarty1992]

I don't think anyone is actually listening, you have already brought the game, so why would it involve the developers?
and you would just be selling it, to a friend who has that game on their wishlist... so hypothetically; you haven't played a game in ... 6 months and a mate of yours has it on their wishlist, so Steam lets you know 'so and so has this game on their wishlist' like it already does, so then you can offer to sell that said game to them for 50% of the full price of that game (like a gift, but they'd pay half price) (into your steam wallet, therefore helping you get a game you want)

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

I don't think anyone is actually listening, you have already brought the game, so why would it involve the developers?
and you would just be selling it, to a friend who has that game on their wishlist... so hypothetically; you haven't played a game in ... 6 months and a mate of yours has it on their wishlist, so Steam lets you know 'so and so has this game on their wishlist' like it already does, so then you can offer to sell that said game to them for 50% of the full price of that game (like a gift, but they'd pay half price) (into your steam wallet, therefore helping you get a game you want)

Steam is still controlling who gets to sell the game on the Steam platform.

The publisher can put it discounted to -50% and they can get 70% of the remaining 50% (i.e. 35% of the full price) while Steam gets 30% of the remaining 50% (i.e. 15% of the full price).

How much would you get? If you're getting 50% of the full price, then that's money they're not getting and they don't like it. They'd rather your friend wait until they've discounted the price -50% and your friend buys directly from them.

If you could establish an independent marketplace that they can't control, then maybe you could get the edge by selling it to your friend at a -50% discount when it's not officially discounted (assuming you can sell your game).

But then, let's consider why the publisher leaves the game undiscounted for most of the year anyway. It's to get full price transactions from those people who just really really want the game immediately, anytime, and are willing to pay full price for it. If there's this secondary market that's willing to sell them the game at a discount, that means the "full price" those people see is actually not the official full price of the game but is lower -- because it's always available. And the publishers don't like that.

And there's no actual difference between a full price game and a discounted game, as far as a digital game goes. It's still just Steam sending the same game data to the customer and letting them play the game when they're logged in on Steam. It's not like the official publisher can sell a better game "new" -- because it's literally just the same game.

[Spawn of Totoro]

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

I don't think anyone is actually listening, you have already brought the game, so why would it involve the developers?
and you would just be selling it, to a friend who has that game on their wishlist... so hypothetically; you haven't played a game in ... 6 months and a mate of yours has it on their wishlist, so Steam lets you know 'so and so has this game on their wishlist' like it already does, so then you can offer to sell that said game to them for 50% of the full price of that game (like a gift, but they'd pay half price) (into your steam wallet, therefore helping you get a game you want)

The developers would pull their games from Steam if it became a used game market, especially with out their permission. A used sale is a lost sale, as far as they are concerned.

So developer would have to agree to the sale/trading of used games.

One way of doing that is to allow the developer a percent of the sale, so they don't feel as if they are losing money from the transfer.

Valve would also get a cut as they are handling the transfer.

So there is more involved then just party A and B, you also have to worry about party C and D and how they view it, especially since party C and D control the license and platform that party A and B are using to make the exchange.

Also, keys are non-transferable, so every trade would have to give up a new key, aka: A new copy of the game.


Developers hate the used console market as well, but they have little control over it. That is one reason why some console games come with a key for bonus items or such, as that can't be transferred and may encourage the new owner to buy them through the store.

[Brian9824]

SmartyMarty1992 の投稿を引用：

I don't think anyone is actually listening, you have already brought the game, so why would it involve the developers?

Because you don't own the game, you own a license to it. The software developer is allowed to block software resales, hence why you buy a non transferable license.

Your not the one listening that right now the law is AGAINST licenses being re-sold. This isn't anything specific to video games and applies to ALL software licenses if sold as non transferable.

[Spawn of Totoro]

brian9824 の投稿を引用：

Because you don't own the game, you own a license to it. The software developer is allowed to block software resales, hence why you buy a non transferable license.

Your not the one listening that right now the law is AGAINST licenses being re-sold. This isn't anything specific to video games and applies to ALL software licenses if sold as non transferable.

Yep. As I don't think this hasn't been posted yet:

The Content and Services are licensed, not sold. Your license confers no title or ownership in the Content and Services.

https://store.steampowered.com/subscriber_agreement/

Honestly, it will take a government act to allow such transfers and then it may not go as people want them to.

The industry is already moving to a pure subscription model with more microtransaction in preparation for such happening in the future.