GamesIndustry.biz

anuary 29, 2009 - Take-Two games, publisher of such mega-hits as Grand Theft Auto IV and BioShock, is increasingly unhappy with the healthy free psp games used videoGame market, which it says is eating away at its bottom line.



That's according to industry analyst Doug Creutz, who met with Take-Two CEO Ben Feder this week. Creutz then spoke with videogame business Web site GamesIndustry.biz about Feder's concerns.



"GameStop continues to aggressively push their used game business, which is having a meaningful negative impact on sales of new games," Creutz told the site. "Management is frustrated with this trend and is examining ways to ameliorate the problem, which includes strategies around online play and downloadable content which extend the lifespan of AAA titles."



Take-Two recently helped extend the life of its latest title in the flagship GTA franchise by dating the release of The Lost and the Damned, a substantive free psp games chunk of downloadable content for GTA IV.



Used game sales were healthy before the economic downturn, but consumers are increasingly turning to specialty retailers like GameStop and Game Crazy for pre-owned games in an effort to save money. This month GameStop reported that it expects to sell $2 billion worth of used games by the end of its 2008-2009 fiscal year, which represents 23 percent of the retailers revenue. That's a $1.6 billion increase over last year.

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