GameStop spokesman, Matt Hodges, pointed to surveys of members of the chain's PowerUp Rewards loyalty program, which boasts about 21 million members in the United States, that suggest they would be reluctant to spend their money on such restrictive platforms. PowerUp members were responsible for about 75 percent of all GameStop's sales in the United States last year.
"We know the desire to purchase a next-generation console would be significantly diminished if new consoles were to prohibit playing pre-owned games, limit portability or not play new physical games," Hodges told Bloomberg.
Following a report this week suggesting that Microsoft's next Xbox console would not allow pre-owned games to be played (with physical discs coming with one-time activation codes), shares of GameStop dropped 6 percent to $52.50.
Microsoft has so far refused to confirm or deny the reports about the restriction.