Can I sell PC Games for which I hold the original DVDs

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Bufty

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I have numerous Games on DVD, but of course they are in the Steam (or other provider's) Library in my account. If, say, I delete them from my Steam account can I then sell the PC DVD's. Obviously I'm only looking for nominal sums but am curious- is there a market for these DVDs or do folk just go straight to the provider nowadays?

Fallout 4, Prey, Mass Effect, Dragon Age Inquisition, Crisis 3, Deus Ex, Rise of Tomb Raider, Shadows of Mordor, Skyrim, etc.,

Guidance appreciated.

Bufty
 

VeryBigBeard

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I've definitely seen used PC games at yard sales and such. I don't buy many there, and I doubt many people would, aside from the usual yard-sale browsers who will buy anything that looks cool and is cheap.

Re-selling has less to do with your Steam library (which is really just a client for your local files, when it's using games you store locally--just groups them with the games you bought online, for convenience) and more to do with the copyright and EULA for the original game.

Given most EULAs, and given the games industry hates used games with the fire of a thousand suns, I'm gonna guess you're not legally allowed to re-sell on your own, not that it stops the yard-salers. You'd have to read the EULA to be sure. Note that a lot of games from that generation, bought physically, have install codes and other "digital rights management" (i.e. anti-copy) to prevent re-sale, to the bane of anyone whose hard-drive has ever died.

If you're looking to off-load the games, GameStop and their regional equivalents (I have no idea what they are in the UK, but many other chains follow their lead anyway) often accept trade-ins. Doubt they'll give you much for older games. (And they define "old" as older than six months, I've found. They're looking to make some extra coin on people rushing through a new release then reselling to people like me who'll buy 3-4 months down the line at a cheaper price.)

For this, the games industry also hates GameStop with the fire of a thousand suns, but are still semi-reliant on them for physical distribution and promotion and so have fewer avenues to crack down on GameStop re-sale. This is why Steam and other digital storefronts exist--it's not actually for your convenience, it's there because digital distribution costs less and because it functions as a sort of always-on DRM for the games bought on the service.
 

Bufty

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I've definitely seen used PC games at yard sales and such. I don't buy many there, and I doubt many people would, aside from the usual yard-sale browsers who will buy anything that looks cool and is cheap.

Re-selling has less to do with your Steam library (which is really just a client for your local files, when it's using games you store locally--just groups them with the games you bought online, for convenience) and more to do with the copyright and EULA for the original game.

Given most EULAs, and given the games industry hates used games with the fire of a thousand suns, I'm gonna guess you're not legally allowed to re-sell on your own, not that it stops the yard-salers. You'd have to read the EULA to be sure. Note that a lot of games from that generation, bought physically, have install codes and other "digital rights management" (i.e. anti-copy) to prevent re-sale, to the bane of anyone whose hard-drive has ever died.

If you're looking to off-load the games, GameStop and their regional equivalents (I have no idea what they are in the UK, but many other chains follow their lead anyway) often accept trade-ins. Doubt they'll give you much for older games. (And they define "old" as older than six months, I've found. They're looking to make some extra coin on people rushing through a new release then reselling to people like me who'll buy 3-4 months down the line at a cheaper price.)

For this, the games industry also hates GameStop with the fire of a thousand suns, but are still semi-reliant on them for physical distribution and promotion and so have fewer avenues to crack down on GameStop re-sale. This is why Steam and other digital storefronts exist--it's not actually for your convenience, it's there because digital distribution costs less and because it functions as a sort of always-on DRM for the games bought on the service.

Thanks, VBB. I can't say I wholly follow what you said but I'll check out the GameStop equivalent here if I can find it.

As far as I'm aware most games can't be played unless they're registered and triggered through a provider, whether a physical disc is owned or not.

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply and advise me. Much appreciated.

Kindest

Bufty

ETA- Gamestop is in Ireland only apparently. Thanks, though.
 
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Roxxsmom

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Some of the older DVDs came with an activation ID on the sleeve or in the box. If that's lost, the disc is of no use to anyone who wants to install it (or reinstall it). Others only allowed a limited number of installs in the past, or there was a way to contact the company and obtain a verification ID.

Legally, I think you can pass a game to another owner if you remove it from your own. Whether it's practical is another matter.

Many people purchase games online from vendors like Steam or GoG these days, so the drive to purchase DVDs might be less. I'm guessing an old game DVD would be most valuable if a. It's a classic that is still not available via online vendors, and 2. it runs on modern operating systems. Some of my old DVDs in my personal collection only run on my older computer, for instance (Windows 7), and no on a Windows 8 or 10 OS.
 

Bufty

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Yes, and I have some that are on floppy disc and don't run at all because there's no provision for floppies on modern machines!

I go back to Fade to Black on a floppy, and Zork Nemesis on a CD-rom. And good old Duke Nukem!
 
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kneedeepinthedoomed

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Many of those EULAs of American publishers may not hold any water in the European Union. Scottish and EU law will determine if you can sell used games. I know you can sell OEM Windows DVDs in Europe for instance. Take a look at the British ebay and see what's the norm there. If others are selling used Steam games, I don't see why you can't, too.

The mechanics of the Steam store are a different problem.
 

JimmyB27

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Some of the older DVDs came with an activation ID on the sleeve or in the box. If that's lost, the disc is of no use to anyone who wants to install it (or reinstall it). Others only allowed a limited number of installs in the past, or there was a way to contact the company and obtain a verification ID.

In addition to this, I think that if the game required you to register it through Steam, or you have otherwise linked the activation code to your Steam account, then that code will no longer work for anyone else.
 

Friendly Frog

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I'm old-fashioned when it comes to games, so most of what I own and play are PC-games with installation CD's. (I am not familiar with Steam and can't comment on that.) I remember a few mentions in the terms of service one has to accept before installation that you're allowed to re-sell the game provided you remove all installed games from all devices before selling the CD. But this goes for games that do not have online content or activation codes.

Whether there's a market for such used games is another matter. In my area where some game shops will accept people's used games for resale, PC games with CD were always excluded. (A fact they almost never mentioned in their conditions which drove me spare when more than once I specifically had travelled there with a pile of unwanted games.) I suppose part of it was that you can always cheat and keep the game installed while selling off the installation CD, and because the game shop couldn't/wouldn't be sure there wasn't any online perks that came with the game and that you've already used up. But it also told me that at least locally there is no big market for second-hand PC-games or the shops would have gotten in. But then maybe I play unpopular, unknown games and things like Tomb Raider or Dragon Age do have a better resale value.
 

Bufty

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Thanks for responding, Friendly Fog. looks like those old Game DVD's for the PC have little value. Personally, for the amount of pleasure I get from my Games I'm not too bothered about resale value. Takes me around a month or two to get through each one so it's pretty good entertainment value. Just obtained Assassin's Creed Origins and it plays fine on my system and Predator X34 ultra-wide screen. I had to do nothing special in set-up - Uplay detected everything and set it all up automatically. I have reduced some of the graphics like clouds and shadows but that apart- so far so good.
 
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