Gamestop Exec Says 70% of Used Game Credit Goes to Buying New Releases

Gamestop CEO Paul Raines knows that his business isn’t exactly a favorite of most developers, who see the retailer’s profits from pre-owned games as a big insult. But, he insists that Gamestop isn’t the bad guy. Used games actually help people learn about the medium, Raines says in a Gamasutra interview:

“A lot of our consumers tell us that the pre-owned business has allowed them to learn more about video gaming. There’s a disconnect between a lot of the blogosphere and what consumers tell us.”

“We don’t sell appliances. We don’t sell groceries. We are all about gaming. I play four hours of video games a week. Our office is filled with gamers and people who are into video games. We are authentically into gaming. This isn’t a company that dabbles in it. Yeah, we have a business model, we have to make profits, but we’re really into video gaming.”

And financially, Raines says that more than half of the money that consumers get for trading games in gets spent on new titles, accounting for 1.8 billion dollars, from which developers and publishers get royalties. That phenomenon might be why Raines says that used games aren’t “cannibalizing new game sales.” If the rumors about next-gen consoles not playing nice with pre-owned titles turn out to be true, Gamestop will have to find some other way to become a place where gamers frequent.

GameStop to game devs: Please love us [Gamasutra]