Used games and DLC codes

[Craig234]

I notice with games like Dragon's Age 1 and 2 that they come with codes for DLC, that are pretty important for the game, that you can re-purchase for a price (at least with 1).

This seems like a reasonable protection for them against the used market - if you buy the game used, it's missing a lot unless you buy the DLC again.

I'm wondering how this works with commercial sellers. It seems like you have to re-buy the DLC if you buy from a consumer.

But I recently got Dragon's Age II used from a commercial seller (gamefly maybe), and said 'oh darn, that's right the DLC thing will more than double the price'.

But it included a DLC code - and it worked. What should I normally expect on this?

Does that mean the game never rented so it wasn't used? Or do they get an additional code for when they sell it?

 

[oznerol]

With Gamefly it's fairly common, because I believe they don't rent out the boxes (which is where the code cards usually are).

From someplace like Gamestop or Amazon warehouse, it's hit or miss. Sometimes people don't even know or care about them before selling, so you'll get lucky and get an unused one.

Then there's the less common case of reusable codes - some games don't restrict the number of times a code can be redeemed.

 

[DaveSimmons]

They probably only shipped the disc to renters, without the manual and codes.

Will that always be the case? Maybe.

If you buy used from other vendors (GameStop, eBay, Amazon used seller) you should expect that the code was used.

 

[Craig234]

Makes gamefly seem a lot less useful service if you don't get to play the DLC.