New Steam Competitor Will Let Users Resell Games

At this point, Steam allows users to sell almost everything, except full games. In the absence of such functionality, sketchy key resale sites like G2A have come to thrive. It’ll be interesting to see if a new PC gaming storefront called Robot Cache can put a dent in that when it launches later this year.

Robot Cache, an upcoming platform from inXile CEO Brian Fargo and former Atari exec Lee Jacobson, aims to set itself apart from Valve’s 800-pound gorilla in two key ways: resellable games, and a built-in, minable cryptocurrency called “Iron.” Also, its website uses the word “disrupt” more than any other PC gaming platform I’ve ever encountered.

You’ll be able to resell games thanks to blockchain technology, which generates a record that cannot be changed and is used by many modern cryptocurrencies for record-keeping. Each sale will net you 25 percent of the proceeds, with 70 percent going to developers and publishers, who’ll also get a whopping 95 percent of proceeds from sales of new games compared to Steam’s 70 percent cut.

When you resell games, you’ll be paid in Iron, which you can exchange for cash or use to buy more games. Presumably, though, the value of Iron will be subject to fluctuations in Robot Cache’s self-created market, which makes the whole thing less of a sure bet than it might seem on its face.

Robot Cache is still finalizing how exactly games will be selected to appear on the platform, but a rep tells me there’ll be curation involved. “Almost all the devs they have on board already agree that some kind of bar would be helpful to make discoverability easier and to ensure no malware,” he said in an email.

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