Retailer GAME puts DLC warning stickers on used titles

UK retailer GAME has started slapping warning stickers on pre-owned games so that potential buyers are aware ahead of time that DLC bonuses on used games are not the same as the unused counterparts.

The warnings apply to games that were given new-purchase DLC incentives by publishers, like EA's Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect 2, with Race Driver: GRID Reloaded, and SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3 as other examples.

"We have been developing a policy for notifying customers at the point of purchase which was implemented last week in-store," a GAME spokesperson told MCV.

"Pre-owned copies of applicable titles have stickers on them saying 'check with staff for availability of downloadable content', giving staff the chance to explain clearly the difference so that our customers understand the benefits of buying both pre-owned and mint."

The labels are a reaction to the recent legal quarrel between GameStop and customer James Collins, who is suing the retailer over his used purchase of Dragon Age not including the promised DLC for free.

Collins claims that he was unaware that a used purchase of the game would mean he would pay for the DLC, as part of Project Ten Dollar, and feels that GameStop should have notified him before the transaction was completed.