Is Microsoft Looking At Allowing Users to Sell Their Used Digital Games?

It looks like Microsoft may be entertaining the idea of allowing users to sell back their used copies of games that they have purchased digitally through the online Xbox Live store. While there are no details and we can only speculate as to how the whole thing would work out it is promising that the idea is being tossed around. In a recent survey to Xbox users they were asked if they would entertain the idea of receiving 10% in store credit based on their purchase price of a title should they want to get rid of it. Now in the case of a new game where you would return it quickly then the refund seems like a pithy amount but what if someone played a game for a year and was done with the game?

Right now if you purchase a game digitally it’s yours for good and there are no options to get anything back so the thought of being able to get store credit is an interesting one. For example, fans of yearly franchises (especially sports) would theoretically be able to play a game for one full year, sell it back for 10% of what they paid, and use that in-store cash to by the next year’s installment. Not a bad deal when you put it in that context. Again, this is purely speculation based on the survey question but something to think about.

The debate of selling used games has been discussed so much it’s to the point of beating a dead horse. The used game market has definitely changed over the run of the current generation of consoles as more and more users are defaulting to digital copies. It’s a lot easier to download at home in your pajamas than head out to your local gaming store, right? While we don’t know any specifics as to how this would be implemented it’s definitely a story we’ll be following closely. Tell us your thoughts in the comments and the poll below.