GameStop says 70% of used games income goes to new games

GameStop gets a lot of heat from game publishers for selling used games, but it seems that the money the company makes for selling used games goes right back into purchasing new games.

GameStop boss Paul Raines revealed in an interview with Gamasutra that 70 percent of the income from traded games and wares are turned back around to be spent on new games. And at $1.8 billion, this is no small amount of cash coming back to the industry.

Knowing this, it’s a bit harder to say that used games are eating away at new game sales. Granted, if used games did not exist, publishers could lock in every sale at top price. 

Beyond this, Raines also points to how used games sales helps to inform customers: “A lot of our consumers tell us that the pre-owned business has allowed them to learn more about video gaming. There’s a disconnect between a lot of the blogosphere and what consumers tell us.” 

It seems that GameStop is out to show that they’re not as evil as some make them out to be.