[Updated] Pachter - Steam May Soon Offer Trade-Ins, Lombardi Says No

[Evo]

According to VG247[/b] industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks that Valve will soon start to offer trade-ins on Steam.[br]

?Steam is phenomenal, it?s a great service. Steam gives gamers enough other stuff so that they don?t resent the fact they can?t trade in their games.[br]?And you know, name all the Steam games that you?ve purchased that you?ve traded back in to somebody else for credit. Steam?s about to let you do that supposedly, you know like trade and exchange, but they?re going to take a fee from it.?

Update: In a comment to Eurogamer, Doug Lombardi the VP of marketing for Valve simply said:

"Untrue. We've never had a meeting with Mr Pachter, I'm not sure what else there is to say."

We may be well advised to disregard the Pachter's comments in the future! <a href="http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-10-14-valve-no-plans-for-steam-trade-ins]Eurogamer news.[/url]

 

[Barnz]

I bet you can only trade Valve titles.

 

[crazydog]

So, this would mean valve would be able to remove a game from your account, while charging you money, and giving you a different game?

This seems like a great way for them to make money. It's all digital content, so there's no overhead in re-selling the traded in games.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

It will be a developer decision if they do begin supporting it. The question is, will many devs embrace it when it will certainly eat into their profits? A trade / exchange will take a fee, with a % going to the dev and a % going to Steam?

I don't ever see Steam introducing a customer store system where gamers get paid for another user paying for a 2nd hand game. (Can you even call them 2nd hand!?) To be honest, how often do you want to pass on a game you're bored of to someone else for a small price?

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

If the story has come from Michael Pachter then you can almost guarantee it's bullshit.

Plus, it just wouldn't work; Unless you can trade it in for full price (minus a small fee) then it's a rip-off, and how would it work from the devs point of view? If they expect someone to trade a game in for less than they paid originally then it's even worse; second hand prices are lower because it's a used product, and that doesn't apply for digital distribution.

But, as I said, Michael Pachter is known for this bullshit. A comment like this from someone who doesn't even work in the games industry can be taken with a pretty huge pinch of salt.

 

[Krynn72]

I'm going to have to echo Gonzo here, doesnt seem like its something thats actually going to happen. Even if you get beyond what Glenn said with the developers even allowing it, I think steam takes like 30% of money for each game they sell, so unless the fee is pretty high it seems like they'd generally make more from selling the game normally rather than letting someone trade in. Especially since developers that do chose to do this will need a cut, that makes the fee need to be even higher.

Combine all that with the fact that Steam doesn't even do returns... seems like BS. But hey, I've been wrong before. Many, many times.

 

[bencanfield]

I'm going to have to echo Gonzo here, doesnt seem like its something thats actually going to happen. Even if you get beyond what Glenn said with the developers even allowing it, I think steam takes like 30% of money for each game they sell, so unless the fee is pretty high it seems like they'd generally make more from selling the game normally rather than letting someone trade in. Especially since developers that do chose to do this will need a cut, that makes the fee need to be even higher.

Combine all that with the fact that Steam doesn't even do returns... seems like BS. But hey, I've been wrong before. Many, many times.

This feature isn't replacing anything. We're getting an option that we didn't have before that helps us out (even though it might not be as helpful as it could be). I don't see how anyone could complain.

 

[Lucid]

It would be an awesome idea.
I have a few purchases that I regret making.

 

[Warped]

I'm a pack rat as it is, trading games in is not on my list even with digital content. but if theres a game i really really hate I'd totally do this

 

[function9]

The only way I could see this working is like how Gonzo said. Ability to trade your purchased game in for a discount on a new game, both games being from the same developer.

 

[Warped]

question is, what if you didn't even install the game?? they should give you an even greater credit towards any game in the developers chest imo.

 

[Marler]

Good bye APB!

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I don't mind the idea of Valve taking the fee, as long as its not too steep

Would be great if I could put money towards Portal 2 if I gave in my Orange Box's HL2 and Ep1

 

[bugmenot0]

Pachter == load of BS.

He is like a ****ing astrologer, he gets right like 1 in 30, and half of those were already known. But the bastard gets big bucks for it, in part because every time he opens his mouth and says something stupid, somehow he's published in every ****ing gaming website.

NO MORE PACHTER, DAMMIT.

 

[Wang Tang]

I don't think that would make any sense from a business standpoint. Who buys a game for full price if he can get the same game for less, in the same condition?

 

[Absinthe]

This feature isn't replacing anything. We're getting an option that we didn't have before that helps us out (even though it might not be as helpful as it could be). I don't see how anyone could complain.

He's not complaining. He's saying it doesn't really make sense and seems highly improbable.

I don't see how any businessman could really justify a trade-in program for digital content without making the process weird.

 

[Diesel_Power]

Confirmed for BS.

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2010/10/14/valve_denies_steam_tradein_plans/

Michael Pachter is not very good at his job.

This prediction seemed really odd from the beginning. Mr. Pachter is very out of touch when it comes to PC gaming.

 

[Blacksky]

Oh... hrmn.... :afro:

 

[Omnomnick]

Michael Pachter, what a bullshitting wanker.

Blacksky, you're really right in what you say; he seems like he hasn't touched Steam in a long while.

 

[<RJMC>]

are analysts this guys that make predictions or things like that?

 

[Acepilotf14]

Analysts are guys who get paid to pretend they know what is going on.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Funny how often people just pull crap out of their asses.

 

[Mogi67]

I love doug's response "uhhhhh........no"

 

[diluted]

Smelled like bullshit from the start... why would Valve do this? They would only stand to lose money by letting their customers trade old games in towards credit for new games.... as opposed to just making them pay full price for new games.