THQ: No sympathy for used game consumers
Publisher is cheated by pre-owned market, says Ledesma
WWE publisher THQ has said that it feels cheated by second hand sales, and doesn't care that consumers who buy used games may feel short-changed by having to pay an extra fee to then access additional features.
The company has begun introducing one-time codes to its games, giving access to downloadable content and full online features when a game is bought new - those that buy the game pre-owned need to purchase that code directly from THQ for the complete experience.
"I don't think we really care whether used game buyers are upset because new game buyers get everything," said the publisher's creative director for WWE games Cory Ledesma to CVG. "So if used game buyers are upset they don't get the online feature set I don't really have much sympathy for them."
"That's a little blunt but we hope it doesn't disappoint people. We hope people understand that when the game's bought used we get cheated," he added. "I don't think anyone wants that so in order for us to make strong, high-quality WWE games we need loyal fans that are interested in purchasing the game. We want to award those fans with additional content."
Yesterday Sony told GamesIndustry.biz that it is looking into introducing a similar system to its first-party titles, following the trend set by EA’s Online Pass.