The global publishing network that drives the majority of revenues for the games industry has kept quiet on whether it will implement pre-owned fees on the Xbox One.
Microsoft clarified on Thursday that it would not impose a mandatory fee on those who swap, share or trade their Xbox One games. However, it clarified that third-party publishers were free to implement policies that could discourage people from trading their games.
On Friday, CVG contacted public relations bosses at the biggest games publishers in the world, to ask what plans they might have. The response, at the time of going to press, has been;
- Bethesda: ""We haven't had time to fully understand and evaluate their policy" (via GameSpot)
- Activision: Declined to comment
- Ubisoft: Declined to comment
- Capcom: Declined to comment
- Take-Two: Declined to comment
- Namco Bandai: Declined to comment (via MCV)
- Electronic Arts: Seeking response
- Sega: Seeking response
- Square Enix: No reply yet
- Konami: No reply yet
This article will be updated when new information is fed in
The lack of clarification may not necessarily suggest that publishers will favour pre-owned fees, but it does imply that no publisher is currently willing to outright oppose the policy.
There is still a possibility that pre-owned charges are opposed by certain publishing firms, but this has yet to be communicated. The difficulties in balancing workloads in the run-up to E3 also means that comment may arrive slower than usual.
Microsoft triggered public outrage in May when it said it would charge people who installed pre-owned games on the Xbox One.
The move comes after several years of debate on whether pre-owned games harm or help the business. Impassioned views from both developers and gamers have often led to vehement disputes between both sides.
Sony has yet to clarify whether it will allow publishers to implement pre-owned fees on the PS4.
