It is a widely held belief that used game retailers are screwing game publishers and developers out of millions upon millions of dollars annually. While this may be the case, there have been some that have made the argument that the game industry would be in worse shape without these retailers selling games at discount prices.

One such individual is Soren Johnson, a programmer on both the Civilization and Spore franchises. On his blog, Johnson spoke in the defense of GameStop saying:

An odd thing about the typical used sales debate is the assumption that the industry is not getting a cut of the profit from pre-owned games. Of course, Gamestop is an actual part of the games industry. One has a hard time imagining how the overall games market would be healthier without a strong retail chain dedicated purely to gaming. How many pure music retailers are still around? I'm sure I'm not the only one who misses Tower Records. If used games are a core piece of the puzzle for Gamestop, so be it. -- Soren Johnson

While Johnson's arguments are completely valid, it is hard to imagine that his employer, Electronic Arts, holds the same beliefs, given their recent issues with DRM on their PC games. I have a feeling that he might be having an awkward chat with one of his managers at some point very soon. What I would give to be a fly on the wall for that conversation...