According to an updated report by EuroGamer there will be a used game activation fee, however, this charge will fall on game retailers not on players.

Eurogamer spoke with high ranking UK industry sources who reported that game retailers will have to pay the fee and therefore what price gamers see in the store is the price they need to pay. Microsoft hasn’t chosen the activation fee yet and a £35 figure per game has been quoted, but this reportedly includes the retailer’s sale price too, so the actual activation fee is probably a lot lower.

The industry sources also went on to confirm that part of the activation fee will go to Microsoft and part will go to the publisher. In general then what this means is that Microsoft essentially dictates what second hand games cost because they control the activation fees which dictate the price to a large extent. While the fee is paid by the retailer, the retailer will simply past this cost on to the Gamers/Players/Customers with higher prices as they still have profit margins to maintain. This means in essence that the player does pay, just not directly.

It looks like the days of cheap used games are over. What are your thoughts on this?

Image courtesy of WPCentral.com