EA’s “Project Ten Dollar” (or, as it should be know, “Project $15 dollar”) seems like a good idea to combat the retail industry’s reliance on used game sales. But some retailers have pointed out not all beneficial to the publisher.

“EA’s Project Ten Dollar move is aiming to stifle pre-owned games sales, but what they don’t factor in is the damage this could have for them in relation to new sales,” SwapGame CEO Marc Day told GamesIndustry.biz.

“At SwapGame, the majority of customers who trade in for cash or credit do so to acquire new games they could otherwise not afford. Through trading in, we aim to help the customer make gaming more affordable, providing them with a way to buy new games.”

Man has a point. As does Chipsworld’s Don McCabe. “You’ve got to bear in mind that when you sell this product, if they insist on online registration, what they’re doing is collecting your customer data.”

“On one hand they might be trying to reduce pre-owned sales, on the other hand they might be collecting data so they can email that customer directly.”

“From a retailer’s point of view, you’re always going to have that in mind. Why should you give your customers over to an organisation that’s going to compete with you? You’re going to be less likely to want to promote that game.”

The first point, it’s a great one. The second one…between TV, the internet and magazines, how much promotion are game stores responsible for when it comes to a game published by EA? It’s not like Mass Effect 2 was sold by people wandering aimlessly into a game store and saying “I’m in the market for a conversation-driven space opera with a Syd Mead aesthetic…”

‘Project Ten Dollar’ will alienate consumers, warns retail [GI.biz]

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