Co-founder of Blitz Game Studios, Andrew Oliver, has stated that the impact of used game sales are worse than piracy on consoles and is pushing developers towards releasing game content as digital downloads. The comment comes as EA describes "Project Ten Dollar" as a "positive consumer experience".
Speaking to Develop, Oliver said that figures suggesting that games are often sold on as many as four times mean that royalties for publishers and developers are effectively cut to 25%. Although Oliver says that he understands why players trade-in games, he believes that pre-owned games are now a "a much bigger problem than piracy on the main consoles".
Oliver added that the pre-owned business is now forcing publishers to use digital downloads more, either for full games or extra content.
Oliver"s comments come as EA Games launches "Project Ten Dollar", which will require purchasers of used EA Sports games to pay $10 for an Online Pass so as to access multiplayer gameplay, beginning with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11.
According to EuroGamer, EA boss John Riccitiello said that he believes the new EA Sports Online Pass will be a "positive consumer experience" and that it will allow developers to continue work on an IP for longer.