On Monday, December 14, politicians in the United Kingdom put forth a motion to banincreasingly unpopular scalpers and automated bots. This early day motion focuses specifically on the sale of gaming consoles and computer components.
Early day motions are typically concise, single sentence declarations that aim to draw attention to specific issues. At this time, 10 members of the Scottish National Party have put forth their signature in support of the motion.
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This should be popular among gamers, many of whom saw firsthand how bots and scalpers dominated the new console launch. During that time, there were posts online showing scalpers with stacks of consoles, selling at significantly higher prices than MSRP. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic pushing sales online, it was next to impossible for a genuine customer to purchase faster than a bot. This latest video gameconsole generation and the RTX 3080 graphics cardlaunch reveals how the market is vulnerable to such abuse.
The downside is that early day motions merely bring attention to a problem or issue, and do not necessarily result in meaningful debate or action. While it is good news that UK politicians are in touch with gamers, some may view these as empty words. Preventing scalpers from selling above the retail price is a feat but making bot resales illegal seems even more unlikely. In addition, despite being somewhat unethical, there is nothing forcing consumers to buy consoles at a price above retail from scalpers.Stock shortages may be commonnow but give it some time and these devices will be available widespread.
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