The size of the second-hand games market is proof that games are too short and not replayable enough, says Avalanche Studios’ Christofer Sundberg.

The studio CCO told Edge that Just Cause 2 still attracts “hundreds of thousands” of players every day because it offered a decent amount of replayability.

“If you’re offering little variation, then there’s no motivation for the player to keep that game, unless they want to have a nice bookshelf,” said Sundberg.

“That’s why we answered that with Just Cause. I go into game stores each week and I always go to the used game boxes – I usually don’t find that many [copies of Just Cause].”

“When you can play a game through from eight to 10 hours, I would return the game too, because there’s no reason for players to play it again.”

Earlier this month, Warren Spector told Forbes that games prices were also a massive factor in the popularity of the second-hand market.

“If we didn’t overcharge for our product, guess what? People wouldn’t have to buy used games,” said Spector.

“The game industry is always talking about how we’re bigger than movies, and in terms of revenue we probably are, but good God, I don’t know this for sure but I would bet a lot of money that more people saw Up in its opening weekend than played Call of Duty.

“The reason our games generate so much revenue is because we’re stupid enough to charge US$60 for a box or US$50 for a download or something. You need used games because most people can’t afford those prices.

“They’d just buy fewer games and play fewer games, and the fact that there are more people playing Call of Duty and Halo and Deus Ex and whatever through used games – come on, it’s not hurting us.”

Spector said that used games allowed more people – specifically younger people – to become game fans because of the lower price point, and added that trade-ins kept brick and mortar stores in business, “which is a good thing”.

“To be frank, every other medium allows it. You can buy a used book. You can buy a used movie. You can buy a used CD. Why the hell are we different? I have got no problem with used games. I’ve bought plenty of used games. Whatever.”