GameStop: Ten Dollar "not compelling"

GameStop's COO Paul Raines doesn't reckon the second-hand market will suffer at the hand of initiatives like EA's Project Ten Dollar.

"Through our years in the used business we have learned that the second-hand user is a value-oriented consumer. The average price of a used Xbox [360] game is twenty dollars, so we don't believe that a ten-dollar add-on piece of downloadable content is compelling to a used-game buyer," he told investors during a Q4 2009 earnings call this afternoon.

"We are encouraging publishers to offer add-on content for new titles at a higher price and then a lower-price option for used games. In fact, publishers can participate in our used business by offering add-on content for the most popular used titles, creating a win-win situation for publishers, retailers and consumers.

"GameStop will also assist in expanding the sales of DLC as we can market and execute the sale right in our stores to the millions of customers coming through our doors," he added, talking of the new in-store DLC sales GameStop plans to implement soon.

Project Ten Dollar - used in games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins - tries to dissuade traders by offering first-hand buyers exclusive DLC codes for content worth around $10.

Earlier today, GameStop posted annual earnings that were slightly down on previous - fiscal 2008 - year. However, used game sales were a silver lining, and GameStop expects growth of five to 10 per cent this year in that area. Head over to GamesIndustry.biz for the full financial report.