Xbox One Used Games Fee To Be Paid By Retailers

The Xbox One was unveiled earlier this week to much fanfare, but the whole used game activation scheme is a bit confusing at this point. It appears that in order to play second-hand games, an activation fee will be levied. Those wanting to play a game on another Xbox account other than the original will have to pay a fee, but it's been said that retailers who will sell used Xbox One games will pay these fees.

We discussed how retail stores might possibly treat used games earlier today, but new information that has come in says that retailers will also pay the fees associated with used games as well. According to Eurogamer, sources say that gamers won't have to pay these fees, and the price you pay for a used game will be the price it takes to be able to play the game.

However, Microsoft has not decided what the activation fee will be yet. It's been said that it could be £35, but that seems extremely high and we don't think Microsoft would charge half of the game's original price in order for someone else to play it. Then again, this is merely just rumor, so take it with a grain of salt.

Sources also say that a percentage of the activation fee will go to the publisher, while the rest goes to Microsoft, which seems rather generous of them. It's said that brick-and-mortar stores who buy used games will be required to register these game as being "traded in" by using a proprietary database system provided by Microsoft. Once the game is registered at the store, it'll be wiped from the original user's account.

Overall, the takeaway here is that gamers will luckily not have to pay the activation fee in order to play a used game, but that doesn't mean used Xbox One games will be cheap. While you can grab some pretty cheap used games now for current-generation consoles, we're not sure if the Xbox One will be the same experience. We may never see cheap used Xbox games again, sadly.

SOURCE: Eurogamer