Yesterday we reported how Sony has applied for a patent that would restrict used games from being played on their new system. It's a move that will help many parties, but also hurt certain ones as well.
Largely GameStop, which primarily relies upon secondhand game sales. And as a direct result of such news, their stock tumbled yesterday.
Though as Kotaku notes, not everyone believes that Sony would be crazy enough to actually pull the trigger on such an initiative. As gaming industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities states:
"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."
Sony would be materially hurt if its console blocked used games and competitor consoles from Microsoft and Nintendo did not."
Pachter has repeatedly stated the same exact sentiment whenever the idea of blocking used games has come up, which has been often in recent months and years. He also maintained in GameStop's stock, encouraging all to either purchase future shares, or to maintain any if they are already owned.
