Published 10:20, 04 December 2023 GMT

???

Right??? There's lots of games I own that I played through once or twice and will probably never play again. I was hoping something like this would come along someday.

They literally just need to add a way to "repackage" a game from your library into an inventory item and then they could use the Marketplace they already have

It would be cool but they probably wouldn't pay money directly to your bank on sale. It would still be locked to Steam. Wish valve let you transfer money out.

Greenmangaming was doing this a decade ago. Steam wouldn't be the first,but it might be the one to get it to stick.

(Ironically, it was predominantly steam games at first that couldn't be traded on GMG)

The EU doesn’t mess around, their definition of digital purchase is what matters, not the wording in steam EULA

As others have pointed out, the original article is from 2012, and even with similar rulings in EU countries more recently, it will take years before we see any result of this.

But I think the ultimate answer to your question here is: yes, that would become a thing.

But there is so much to this that makes it hard to predict how good it would be. Who decides the price? What rules will there be on when and how you can resell?

What about bigger games like BG3? What’s stopping me from buying it full price, copying the files somewhere and then instantly reselling it? It would probably force them to implement strict DRM restrictions, and probably the nasty rootkit kind.

The same thing that's stopping you from downloading the files now. A combination of ethics and the value legitimately owning the game adds to your purchase.

same reason why people buy games even though they can pirate them to get them for free

For this to become a serious issue a couple of conditions need to be met:

• there has to be enough second hand supply to meet demand and keep prices low.
• ...which means lots of people need to circulate their games.
• ...which means they didn't like your game enough to want to keep it in their collection for replayability
• ...which means you made an unremarkable game

Now, given the fact that I have full confidence in your ability to create something worthwhile (because you would do so from passion), this cycle will likely be broken at some point.

There's also the other option where people will circulate their second hand games with the knowledge they'll be able to buy back another copy somewhere down the road.

But yes, you're right that this will bring a new factor to the gaming industry that everyone has to take into account. Keep in mind that your financial security in the indie gaming sector is fully dependant on wether you develop something worthwhile. You are in no way entitled to be able to make a living from publishing games regardless of their quality. Which is the beauty of the indie games segment: the more love and care you put into your game, the bigger the chances are that it'll be a success.

Movies were resellable for decades and b movies still existed.

What about bigger games like BG3? What's stopping me from buying it full price, copying the files somewhere and then instantly reselling it? It would probably force them to implement strict DRM restrictions, and probably the nasty rootkit kind.

GOG literally exists and yet gamers still buy it on Steam.
If steam implements it, it may be more accessible and thus make it more relevant but as of now, nothing would really change.

I've no doubt that Steam, PSN, etc can avoid complying with the spirit of the law on this, but the writing is on the wall as far as subscription services go.

Since I got my PS5 just over a year ago, I own 2 games for it. GoW Ragnarok that came with it, and BG3 that was only available digitally. PS+ has provided all the rest. I've spent the last week playing Teardown which is great. If this law actually happens, then all devs, not just indie ones, will be relying on game subscription service revenue.

Better than nothing I suppose..

Fine by me.

I'd get to sell my PlayStation & Xbox Inventories to purchase more games on Steam <3