For years now the game industry has had a problem that has been sucking away their profits more than even piracy: used games. The business model that the super successful, recession defying Gamestop has built itself upon earns millions for its share holders but sends no profits towards the game developers and publishers. When a store like CD Tradepost, Hastings, or Gamestop buys a game for a 1/5 of the price then sells it for 4/5 the price, that store earns a huge profit, much higher than if the store had sold a new copy. On top of that, the store can buy back the same game from a customer a few weeks later and sell it again and again for pure profit. Gamers are drawn by the cheaper price and the parade of deals available for selling old games and buying used games (10% off, by one get one half off, extra credit for multiple game trades, etc.) while the game companies themselves have done little in the past to stop it.

While Sony and Microsoft would love to simply “lock” their games to a single console, preventing users from selling their games. The problem is that not only would gamers be outraged (like they were back in 2006 when Sony patent was found to do exactly that) but Gamestop wouldn’t stand idly by while its main source of profit is taken away. Because Gamestop is a huge part of game and hardware sales, trailing only Walmart and Bestbuy. In order to usurp Gamestops power in the industry, game companies must politely stab them in the back.

At this past E3 Microsoft snuck a barely discussed new feature along with their headline Avatar and Netflix features, the ability to install Xbox 360 games to the hard drive. This is the start of making available full retail games for download directly from Microsoft. This nets game developers a higher margin by cutting out the middle man while preventing the customer from selling the game. Sony has one upped Microsoft by releasing the Japanese horror game Siren: Blood Curse only as a download in America. Adding to that is the recent announcement that the popular racing game Burnout: Paradise will be available for download directly to gamers consoles this fall. That marks the first next-gen title to be moved from retail to the download space and is also the first game by mega-publisher EA to be made available as a download.

Used games won't disappear in a day. The biggest obstacle to making games download only is the prevalence of broadband internet. Once that hurdle is overcome, game companies will be all to happy to cut out the middle man and black market style used game trading. With game development looking more and more like movie production, with huge teams of personnel, massive advertising campaigns, and shareholders to think of, game companies will stop at nothing to make every sale they can.