GameStop: We're Interested in Selling Secondhand Digital Download Video Games

GameStop makes a killing selling used videogames, but what happens to that business model when digital distribution platforms run physical media out of town? That's not anything to worry about today, tomorrow, next week, or even next year, but at some point, GameStop will have to deal with the direction the games industry is headed, and it may already have a solution.

GameStop CEO Paul Raines recently brought up the possibility of reselling used digital downloads. The idea is that GameStop could buy back your digital copy of any given game and then reissue the key to someone else. Obviously there are plenty of challenges involved, most of which relate to piracy, but GameStop sounds determined to figure it out.


"There are some technologies out there in Europe, and we've looked at a couple that are involved," Raines recently told reporters. "We're interested; it's not a meaningful business yet."

Be that as it may, Raines said GameStop has engaged in dialog with a handful of startups about secondhand digital sales, but declined to say which ones for fear of "our competitors rushing in."