Skip to main content

German consumer group lobbies for Steam to allow used game sales

Image used with permission by copyright holder

As media drifts further and further away from reaching people through phsycial goods—paper magazines, CDs, video games on Blu-ray discs, etc.—capitalism continues to struggle to catch up to the change. The video game retail business in particular is in a pickle. Stores like GameStop mitigated the historically high prices of video games by letting people trade in old games to purchase new ones. Those stores, in turn, made a tidy profit on selling pre-owned games. What happens when video games are only distributed digitally? Can people sell back the license to play those games? According to the European Union’s Court of Justice, it would be perfectly legal to do so. To date though, digital distributors like Valve’s Steam don’t buy back used games and some consumer groups are fed up.

The Federation of German Consumers Association (VZBV) in particular has taken issue with Valve and Steam. The VZBV tried to get Valve to allow Steam customers to at least be able to sell their game licenses to other users after the Court of Justice sent down its decision. As of this writing, Steam users can’t even give away games they’ve purchased if they no longer want them in their library.

Recommended Videos

The VZBV announced this week that it’s escalated its pursuit of Valve. “[The VZBV has] submitted a complaint against the company to the district court of Berlin,” said representative Eva Hoffschulte on the group’s website.

The VZBV also went into detial about what in particular it’s trying to get Valve to change. In particular, it claims that by restricting Steam users from reselling games they’ve purchased on the service, Valve is limiting the growth of the digital distribution industry as a whole. They also think it’s unfair that consumers don’t have the right to resell digital games when their prices fluctuate so wildly. A consumer that spends $60 on a disc version of Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, for example, can resell it for around $35 before the disc drops in price to that level months later. A Steam user that pays full price for a digital download, meanwhile, doesn’t get any of that value later on.

Valve is open to exploring used game sales. It already offers the Steam Trading service. Rumors that Valve would test letting users sell back games after playing them have been circulating for years now.

This much is true: Valve hired a full-time economist in June 2012. If nothing else, the company is actively researching what a media business should be in a world without physical goods.

 Source: CinemaBlend

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
10 essential Steam Deck games you’ll keep coming back to
Hades 2 key art from its first trailer.

I can't imagine life without my Steam Deck. Valve's handheld PC has fundamentally changed how I play games with a massive chunk of my playtime now happening on the device. I don't travel without it and I'm even using my Nintendo Switch less and less because of it. It's a life-saver for someone who travels and commutes quite a bit.

Because I'm so often on the move, I like to keep a few games always installed on my Steam Deck. It's a small handful of titles that I can bring up any time when I'm not sure what to play. These tend to be "infinitely replayable" titles, like roguelikes, that can kill a long flight or train ride with ease. If you're looking for some standby games that you can always go back to when you need something to play, I recommend keeping these games installed on your Steam Deck at all times.
Vampire Survivors

Read more
Grand Theft Auto 5 is no longer supported on Steam Deck
Trevor, Michael, and Franklin are all holding guns in GTA 5 promotional art.

One of the most popular games on Steam has hit a snag for Steam Deck players. Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online are no longer supported for Valve's PC handheld.

Rockstar Games explains in a post for Update 1.69 (and spotted by The Verge), that its game won't be supported by Steam Deck due to the integration of BattlEye Anti-Cheat for Grand Theft Auto Online. The goal was to put a limit on cheating in its open-world MMO, but that came at the cost of Steam Deck support.

Read more
Valve has made sharing games on Steam easier than ever
A Steam library filled with custom artwork.

Steam Families is now available to all users, making it easier than ever to share your games library and monitor your child's activity.

The PC gaming platform has had family features for a while, going back to Steam Family Sharing and parental controls like Family View. But Steam Families -- announced in beta in May --  puts them in one hub. It officially went live on Wednesday, and since it's now the weekend, this is a great time to start sharing games.

Read more