HMV's Simon Fox - 3

The retail boss on pre-owned, digital distribution - and the 3DS

Feature by Phil Elliott Contributor

Published on Oct. 5, 2010

GamesIndustry.biz Do you think publishers are just making noise about this, or do they genuinely have an issue with it? I speak to senior execs and some seem to be realistic about consumer habits, while others are genuinely upset about the practice.

Simon Fox

I think, as you say, publishers are mixed. I've met both types - publishers that genuinely think what we're doing is wrong, or if it's not wrong that they should be benefiting from what we're doing. And others feel much more relaxed.

As a retailer we feel it is something that our customers want - we weren't first into this market, we were a late-comer. It's not a big part of our mix, but it is an important part of our mix - and what we do is, in some degree, part of the way of competing with supermarkets on pricing.

By providing a trade-in offer on a new release you can make that new release affordable, perhaps even cheaper than the supermarket price - but it's part of a deal. They bring something back, and in exchange they can have the latest product at a very competitive price.

GamesIndustry.biz Remaining neutral, I think it's fair to say that if the pre-owned market suddenly disappeared, consumers wouldn't be happy.

Simon Fox

I think customers who have bought any product - whether that's a game or anything - believe it to be theirs. And once they've bought it, if they should wish to sell it, they have that right to sell it.

GamesIndustry.biz Has it caused any problems with publisher relationships? Has it affected support?

Simon Fox

No, I don't believe it has.

GamesIndustry.biz Maybe that's an indication that publishers are fairly realistic about it, then?

Simon Fox

I think for one or two it's a genuine issue, and I'm sure they'd prefer we weren't doing it. But with Tesco now moving in, Argos now moving in...

GamesIndustry.biz Moving on to digital distribution - as a retailer, how do you view that direct-to-market route? So far it's not affected the console platforms so much - it's really taken off on the PC platform, which has maybe filled a gap as the amount of PC product in stores has diminished. But how do you appraise the threat?

Simon Fox

Well, it's a serious threat. I think the first thing is that we do believe that the file size of games is getting bigger and bigger and will only get bigger still. I think it's interesting to compare the file size of Call of Duty this year with that of last year. I don't know the exact numbers, but I believe it's immeasurably bigger. And as we see 3D in future years - which we definitely will - the file size will only get bigger again.

Frankly it's going to take many years for the broadband infrastructure in this country to keep pace, and it evidently isn't keeping pace at the moment.