A fresh patent signed by Sony was unearthed yesterday, which looks to block the use of pre-owned games on the Playstation 4.
Within the patent it describes how the PS4 could use tagging software to determine whether or not a game has been played before on a different console or whether it has been associated with another PSN account, ultimately leading to the rejection of pre-owned games on Sony’s future model.
This rumor has already affected the consumerism market, as GameStop’s shares fell by 5% after the discovery. The store, which allows gamers to purchase pre-owned games, would not be the only one affected if this patent turns out to be true, as many stores across the world are built on the trading of pre-owned video games.
However, according to the gaming site Kotaku, industry expert Michael Pachter believes that this move would do more harm than good to Sony. In a letter to investors Pachter wrote: “Sony benefits little from a unilateral decision to block games.”
“The company's first party software sales represent less than 10 percent of overall sales on its consoles and it is unlikely that blocking used games would result in a lift of more than 10 percent in new game sales. That means that Sony's sales would rise only marginally if the PS4 blocked used games.”
He also added, “Sony would be materially hurt if its console blocked used games and competitor consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo did not.”
So could this be sign of times to come? Do you think the rumors are true? Would you even consider buying a Playstation 4 if this was indeed going to happen? Or would you switch to the new Xbox or Wii U instead? Let us know your thoughts below.
