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Bethesda Blocks Resale of a Secondhand Game (polygon.com)
theshowmecanuck writes: Bethesda just pulled a cease and desist on an Amazon Marketplace sale of one of their games. This, despite the fact that the resale of used games is legal in the USA. Bethesda is saying that because it isn't being offered with a warranty, it is not protected through the First Sale Doctrine. UPDATE: The game in question was sealed and unopened, technically not "used," but being sold secondhand. In a letter sent to the seller by Bethesda's legal firm, they made the argument that the sale was not "by an authorized reseller," and was therefore "unlawful." Bethesda also took issue with the seller's use of the word "new" in selling the unwrapped game, claiming that this constituted "false advertising."
Bethesda offered the following statement: "Bethesda does not and will not block the sale of pre-owned games. The issue in this case is that the seller offered a pre-owned game as 'new' on the Amazon Marketplace. We do not allow non-authorized resellers to represent what they sell as 'new' because we can't verify that the game hasn't been opened and repackaged. This is how we help protect buyers from fraud and ensure our customers always receive authentic new product, with all enclosed materials and warranty intact. In this case, if the game had been listed as 'Pre-Owned,' this would not have been an issue."
Bethesda offered the following statement: "Bethesda does not and will not block the sale of pre-owned games. The issue in this case is that the seller offered a pre-owned game as 'new' on the Amazon Marketplace. We do not allow non-authorized resellers to represent what they sell as 'new' because we can't verify that the game hasn't been opened and repackaged. This is how we help protect buyers from fraud and ensure our customers always receive authentic new product, with all enclosed materials and warranty intact. In this case, if the game had been listed as 'Pre-Owned,' this would not have been an issue."
So enjoy it while you can.
Usually when I've seen games shrink wrapped it was quite obvious that the manufacturer had done it because there were barcodes and such rather than simple shrink wrapping.
It's been years since I saw any software that came in a box where the shrink wrap didn't have some sort of a specific sticker on it. And usually a secondary seal once the shrink wrap was opened.
To the average consumer, "new" stipulates that it hasn't had a previous owner use it and that it's still shrink-wrapped. If you search through sites like eBay, you'll find this to be the case as well. In the eyes of the law, it might hold a different definition, but it doesn't necessarily fall in the category of second-hand, which might include a degradation of value. It's still a new, sealed item, and when your selling platform is open to the average consumer, then the tendency is probably going to be for the seller to post it as "new", as that's what their own personal understanding on what "new" is. This seems a highly aggressive stance for Bethesda to be taking, but they're commonly known to be more litigious than many of their other counterparts in the industry.
Amazon has tools to allow companies like Bethesda to report bad sellers. Bethesda could have simply used those tools and had the listing taken down. Instead they get the lawyers involved as a scar tactic to further scare other potential sellers away ensuring that more new copies are being sold, not already bought copies.
Bethesda's claims have no merit. Afraid of the game being not new? Amazon has protections in place for that. If the seller takes your money and runs? Amazon has protections in place for that. The game just doesn't work? Amazon has protections in place for that.
Honestly, fuck Bethesda. They rarely make good games. What they make are large games that are easy enough to mod for others to make their games fun.
Sure thing. If they don't, they run the risk of anyone selling repackaged games as new. Or fake copies. If you don't protect your interests you run the risk of losing them later.
The seller was dumb. Just say pre owned, like new, still in original shrink-wrap. Buyers are unlikely to care anyway.
And except for the 24/7 outrage machine on the internet (now with more bots) nobody really fucking cares.
The game in question was sealed and unopened, technically not "used," [...] Bethesda also took issue with the seller's use of the word "new" in selling the unwrapped game
How can it be both "sealed and unopened" and yet also "unwrapped"? Is there an argument about it or is this some distinction that's lost on non-gamers?
If someone wants to sell them to someone else, that's none of Bethesda's business.
In this one particular case, it is Bethesda's business. The seller is claiming the game is new. In the broadest sense it is new in that it hasn't been played.
However, it is not new in that this is not the first sale of the game. This is the second sale. If/when someone buys this game and has a problem, who are they going to go to? The seller or Bethesda? Most likely they will contact Bethesda asking for help/support but they are not the original owner.
As Bethesda said, had the game been marked pre-owned, no problem. That wording clearly identifies the state of the product. Yes, it is nit-picking, but in this case it is warranted.
It's laughable that they are trying to somehow dry up the game aftermarket for their titles and then shucking and jiving around what the meaning of "is" is.
Wake me up when they go tits up.
Not going to happen, the average gamer is a fucking moron. The last 20 years of PC gaming we've seen a shift from games we owned and controlled to games companies own largely because gamers are morons and technologically illiterate. The fact that mmo's and f2p microtransaction games even exist is proof the average person on our planet is a moron.
Note that every store worth a damn has a shrink-wrap setup in the back. Being 'in the wrap' means nothing.
Yes well that's why they don't have the equipment to replicate the labels that get attached to the shrink wrap. I've never seen a shrink wrap job done by a store where it wasn't screamingly obvious that it wasn't done by the factory. But just in case someone isn't clear that's why companies put fancy holographic labels on the outside that are hard to replicate.