Company releases software to support second hand game sales

It seems so normal to be able to buy something and when you don’t want it anymore to be able to sell it. Unfortunately when it comes to downloaded software, including games the European Union had to make legislation to force companies to make it possible.  Currently game studios like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft are trying to prevent you from selling a game you’ve purchased to someone else by requiring an online pass. Obviously they do this because  sales on the second hand gaming market means less income for them but it’s strange as this means that you can’t sell something you own, which no car or TV company would be able to do.

The European Court ruled that a license should be sold (in its whole, not partly) to someone else, and that the buyer should be able to download the original software. However the seller has to make his copy unusable. And to control this, a german company Game and Download Company today announced it has developed a solution.

GDC  has introduced “Fast Download Technology with Streaming Logic” (FDSL) which offers Steam and Origin like functions such as game downloads, try-before-buy, a server based save game function  and server based copy protection. But it’s now also ready for the new European legislation as it has the option to transfer a game from one user account to another. Once you sell a game it will transfer the content of your game to someone else’s account and will render your game useless.

While GDC might be the first company to introduce this kind of technology, it seems a small player in the game industry. On their site they only list AWOMO.com as an user of their software. Therefor it’s more likely that Valve and EA will also introduce similar technology in their products.