DC Universe Online Subscription ties
If you read what the distributors of video games say you'll find they don't like the practices of video game stores that buy and resell your old video games "Hey", they say. "You're getting to buy a game from a customer cheaper than we sold it to you and then reselling it and keeping all the profit, that's not fair". Well tough. You don't see jumper manufacturers crashing jumble sales and demanding their 'cut' do you? No roving patrols at car boot sales or looking out for garage clear-outs. The second-hand market is a part of business; what you going to do about it?
And the answer returns from Sony and their latest 'hit' the MMO "DC Universe Online. You buy the game for around £40 and 30-days to discover if you like it or not before having to take out a subscription at (for PS3)
- 1 Month – €12.99
- 3 Month – €34.99
- 6 Month – €64.99
What's the big deal? The other MMOs also include keys that need to be entered on installation so none of them can be sold second hand either this is just console owners being whiney. Well not quite. Take the biggie "World of Warcraft" for instance I can download it and try it, all for free for 10-days. If I like it I can then buy it and take out a subscription.
For "DC Universe Online" I have to pay up front first. There's no free download, there's no demo; if you don't like it then you've just wasted £40 and you can't even recoup your losses by trading it in.
Now of course the way around this is to sell subscription keys and create a free 30-day key that can be used by anyone. The free one would be tied to the account so it couldn't be entered by that person multiple times. People can take a punt on buying the game knowing they can trade it in if they don't like it and this lowers the initial barrier cost to new subscribers.
But of course this isn't about that - it's about killing the second hand market; so well done Sony; well done.
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