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Steam offers extra funds for trading in console games, with an anti-console catch

Posted July 18th, 2012 at 18:41 EDT by Timothy Nunes
4 Comments

Valve has set in place a deal through Gamestop that grants gamers thirty percent more money for trading in console games, but this comes with a pretty interesting catch.

In order for gamers to take advantage of this deal, they have to trade their games into Gamestop and put the money on a Steam gift card, so those funds can only be used on Steam. This is a good deal for Steam users, but gamers who aren't familiar with PC games might be surprised to find out after the fact that PC games can't be traded back in like consoles games.

This is definitely a good way to get sales on Steam, since gamers sell games pretty frequently. Still, it's a bit manipulative. How do you guys feel about a deal like this? Pretty tempting, if PC gaming is your thing.

Via Gamespy

Comments

Petra_Kalbrain1
- 7:08pm EDT - July 18th, 2012
- 1
Hahahaha.... those cheeky monkeys! Trying to do their part in the facilitation of a strictly digital content gaming universe.

However, I'm not sure how Gamestop can justify this program. It really does put a giant knife in their own backs should the program become extremely successful.
Ocelot1987
- 7:14pm EDT - July 18th, 2012
- 2
It is a good deal if you have a good computer. Steam sells games at a massive discount so the fact that you can't sell them back doesn't really matter at all. Anyone who hasn't given steam a shot should take a look.
KyleOnTheRun
- 8:02pm EDT - July 18th, 2012
- 3
I'm gonna go ahead and call this a good deal (I mean, it's ultimately just one more option for the consumer), but I'm totally baffled as to why GameStop would be willing to inevitably come out on the short end of this stick. As you said, Tim, PC games can't be subsequently retraded.

So, is it about customer loyalty? I don't think so. GameStop could be hoping for some kind of Valve partnership down the line, and we could be witnessing the first step in that evolution.
Tim Nunes
- 8:41pm EDT - July 18th, 2012
- 4
Good point, Kyle. Gamestop has ALWAYS been against digital formatting, especially when that deals with competition. This could be a sign of things to come. Or, Gamestop is idiotic and Valve is taking the upper hand. Who knows? Could be both, where Valve buys out Gamestop, or something outrageous like that.