Microsoft really doesn’t seem to know what it wants to do with this whole used-game situation. Some reports have claimed that people will need to pay full price to play pre-owned products, while others say that used games will be treated the same during the next generation as they have been with the Xbox 360. The most recent report states that Microsoft will be seeing a cut of all used Xbox One sales, and because of this rumor, GameStop shares have sharply fallen.
GameSpot reported on the company’s issue earlier today, when the shares were down 6.75 percent to $33.61. However, the numbers have continued to fall since this morning. Shares for GameStop are now down around 14 percent, and that number could continue to grow as the day progresses.
Just to review, what most reports are claiming is that if a consumer wishes to sell an Xbox One game that he or she no longer wants, the only way to do so is to go to a retailer that has agreed to Microsoft's terms and conditions. This means that this specific chain would have to be a part of the company’s cloud-based Azure pre-owned system. From there, the used game is registered in Microsoft's system and wiped from the account of its former player. The retailer then sells that game for whatever price it sees fit, but Microsoft (and the publisher of the game) sees a cut of the profit.
This will lower the revenue of stores like GameStop if true, continuing to drop the stock prices. Hopefully, Microsoft can confirm or deny this new report sooner rather than later.
