How do used games work?

h4rm0ny

h4rm0ny

h4rm0ny

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I recently bought an XB1S for use as a media centre (netflix and UHD discs, etc.). My partner's nephews sometimes come over and it would be good to have a few games for them to play on it. I don't want to spend upwards of £30 just to rot their minds, though so I noticed that Amazon has a lot of XB1 games available "used".

How does that work? Presumably they've already been installed on someone else's machine and burned whatever code comes with it? Is it a high risk buying 'used' games? I don't quite get how this can work.
 
Someone buys a game, gets bored of it or completes or no longer wants it for whatever reason and sells it on. Game works fine, DLC codes probably been used. What's not to get?
 
Old PC User maybe?

Typically once a CD-Key was registered it was unavailable to re-sell e.g. Steam.

Maybe the OP assumes this happens behind the scenes on consoles. For definite, FIFA used to have a code you had to register to play online and you had to rebuy the code if you wanted to go online with your used copy.
 
Smok3y said:
Someone buys a game, gets bored of it or completes or no longer wants it for whatever reason and sells it on. Game works fine, DLC codes probably been used. What's not to get?
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If you've only ever used a PC for gaming, probably quite a lot :rolleyes:

h4rm0ny, the serial key for the game is the disc itself. Even though you install the game to the hard drive, it won't play unless the disc is in. So you can't buy it, install it and then trade the game but carry on playing it - in effect you have traded away the serial.

Typically if games come with a DLC code, that will have been redeemed, but that won't affect the core game in any way. You can also buy the DLC separately on the store if you really cared about it enough.
 
Gornall said:
Old PC User maybe?
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shorttricky said:
If you've only ever used a PC for gaming, probably quite a lot :rolleyes:
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Yes, this is me. I've never owned a console before and have only ever gamed on a PC (and even then not that often). I was basing it off how games on PCs often work and a lot of the old discussions when XB1 was announced where discs were just a delivery medium equivalent to downloading a game from a store.

shorttricky said:
h4rm0ny, the serial key for the game is the disc itself. Even though you install the game to the hard drive, it won't play unless the disc is in. So you can't buy it, install it and then trade the game but carry on playing it - in effect you have traded away the serial.

Typically if games come with a DLC code, that will have been redeemed, but that won't affect the core game in any way. You can also buy the DLC separately on the store if you really cared about it enough.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That's really helpful and answers my questions. It probably does seem rather clueless to not know this but coming from a PC background is just seemed odd. TBH, it still seems weird to have to have the disc in the drive to play the game. Surely there are ways around that if that's the DRM method?
 
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