--- title: Wal-Mart Launches Video Game Trade-In Program description: The world’s largest retailer is set to begin a program in more than 3,100 locations that allows consumers to turn in old games—for consoles like Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii—in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards that can be used in stores or online canonical: https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/ author: Matt Vella article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-18T11:31:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:45.255Z article:section: World og:title: Wal-Mart Wants to Buy Your Used Video Games og:description: The world’s largest retailer is set to begin a program in more than 3,100 locations that allows consumers to turn in old games—for consoles like Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii—in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards that can be used in stores or online og:url: https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6839115b3f87ab40/698685f0f983e7727604ccbd/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Customers enter a Wal-Mart store on Feb. 20, 2014 in San Lorenzo, Calif. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Wal-Mart Wants to Buy Your Used Video Games twitter:description: The world’s largest retailer is set to begin a program in more than 3,100 locations that allows consumers to turn in old games—for consoles like Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii—in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards that can be used in stores or online twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6839115b3f87ab40/698685f0f983e7727604ccbd/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Wal-Mart Wants to Buy Your Used Video Games ## Video: A History of Video Gaming Consoles [Watch (HLS stream): A History of Video Gaming Consoles](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c8bQ37tV.m3u8) (23:45)  _Published 2014-01-08. The full series on gaming consoles packed into one video for you to watch._ by [Matt Vella](/author/matt-vella/) ## Matt Vella Mar 18, 2014 11:31 AM CUT  Customers enter a Wal-Mart store on Feb. 20, 2014 in San Lorenzo, Calif. Customers enter a Wal-Mart store on Feb. 20, 2014 in San Lorenzo, Calif.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [Matt Vella](/author/matt-vella/) ## Matt Vella Mar 18, 2014 11:31 AM CUT The world’s largest retailer will begin taking consumers’ old video games in exchange for gift cards [on March 26](http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2014/03/18/walmart-doubles-down-on-video-gaming "undefined"). Wal-Mart said its new service will allow customers to trade in games for credit they can use to shop for other goods in stores or on the company’s website, walmart.com. The program will roll out in more than 3,100 Wal-Mart stores nationwide. Wal-Mart executives said the service will accept an unlimited number of games for consoles such as the Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox, and Nintendo Wii so long as they are in original packaging and undamaged. The trade-in value—which could be used to by anything from groceries to gasoline—will range from a few dollars to $35, depending on the title’s age. Customers must be 18 years or older to participate, the company said. The retail giant is hoping to tap into the $2 billion pre-owned video game market. Duncan Mac Naughton, Wal-Mart’s chief merchandising and marketing officer, [told _CNNMoney_](http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/18/news/companies/walmart-video-games/index.html?iid=HP%5FLN "undefined"), the company estimates that there are nearly 1 billion unused video games sitting in homes across the United States. “This is a new category for us. We’re doing it because our customers have asked us for it,” he said. **MORE: The History of Video Game Consoles – Full** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/"},"headline":"Wal-Mart Wants to Buy Your Used Video Games","datePublished":"2014-03-18T11:31:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:45.255Z","description":"The world’s largest retailer is set to begin a program in more than 3,100 locations that allows consumers to turn in old games—for consoles like Sony Playstation, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Wii—in exchange for Wal-Mart gift cards that can be used in stores or online","url":"https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/","keywords":["Tech","Video Games","Walmart","xbox","Playstation","Wii"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6839115b3f87ab40/698685f0f983e7727604ccbd/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Matt Vella","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/matt-vella/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6839115b3f87ab40/698685f0f983e7727604ccbd/walmart.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Customers enter a Wal-Mart store on Feb. 20, 2014 in San Lorenzo, Calif.","caption":"Customers enter a Wal-Mart store on Feb. 20, 2014 in San Lorenzo, Calif.","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/","name":"Wal-Mart Wants to Buy Your Used Video Games"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A History of Video Gaming Consoles","description":"The full series on gaming consoles packed into one video for you to watch.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/c8bQ37tV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-08T16:50:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c8bQ37tV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/","duration":"PT23M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/28435/wal-mart-wants-to-buy-your-used-video-games/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```