THQ’s Bilson: I would buy a used game!

THQ’s Executive VP of Core Games, Danny Bilson, weighs in on the used game argument.
Speaking in the latest issue of EDGE magazine, Bilson says that the perception of THQ as a company that takes an aggressive stance towards pre-owned game sales is false but that if money continues to be “siphoned off” then it’ll be very difficult to continue to make “great games”.
“If you look at the data on our Online Pass programme versus EA or anyone else, were not more aggresive!” he told EDGE.
The Online Pass to which Bilson refers is a system that limits (or entirely removes) the ability of anyone using a second-hand game to play online. In order to play online the user must purchase a code that unlocks the multiplayer content. The system is in use across a number of THQ games, including UFC Undisputed 2010 and the upcoming Homefront.
Bilson went on to say, “I would buy a used game! It’s simple! You go into a store and you see one copy that says $60 and one that says $40, you’re going to buy the one that says $40, right?… A gamer is a gamer… I don’t have anything against him.”
However, he did warn that pre-owned game sales present an issue for future game development:
“…if we don’t get a single penny from [a second hand] purchase, I can’t make Homefront 2… It’s very expensive to make great games and if that money is being siphoned off somewhere else, we can’t make this stuff.”
His words come at a sensitive time. UK high-street retailer GAME has (via GAME.co.uk) recently begun to trial a new system whereby you can pre-order pre-owned copies of future releases. One of the games involved is this trial scheme is THQ’s Homefront.