Microsoft has caused a bit of a stir with a survey that has popped up on Reddit asking if people would be interested in selling back their digital games for 10% of what they originally paid. They released several other surveys, one of which asked consumers if this sell back programme would encourage them to buy more digital games in the future.

There used to be a time when digital copies of games were to be laughed at. When it was first announced Half-Life 2 would only work when activated through Steam, customers were not happy at all. Look at Steam now. Gabe must be somewhere rolling around in bank notes at this point with all the money that Steam is making Valve.

It seems strange that it’s taken this long for anyone to offer an incentive similar to this. Sure, you have the Steam refunds policy and similar offered by its competitors (although some have taken a little longer to offer protections against their purchases *cough* Microsoft *cough*). We’ve all been there - a few too many beers one evening and buying Call of Duty: Advanced Modern Ops 9 and regretting it only a few weeks/hours/seconds later. Or that time you bought TimeShift and realised about 7 hours in that it’s absolute garbage (Jon - You had to buy it to realise that?) - how nice would it have been to get at least some of the money back?

At 10%, which is the figure Microsoft is mooting, it’s arguable that it’s not even worth the hassle. That’s $6 from a $60 game, or £4 off a £40 game. It's not really that much and definitely not enough to come close to buying another big game. Many people online have deemed the suggested 10% as insulting and that they’d rather just keep the game. Places like Gamestop or CeX can offer up to 40% back on your purchase, however they do see huge amounts of business come through their doors so clearly there is a market for the selling of unused or unwanted games.

What do you guys think? Are there games in your library that you’d be glad to see the back of, especially if it meant you’d get a little bit back of your money paid? Do you think 10% is enough?

Share with us your thoughts below on how you’d feel about selling back digital games and revoking the licenses to play them.