The Grapevine, Texas-based specialty retailer, which gets almost half its profit from sales of used discs, cited surveys of its most active customers, the 21 million U.S. members of its PowerUp Rewards loyalty program. Those buyers would be less likely to purchase a next-generation console that limits trading in pre-owned games, Matt Hodges, a GameStop spokesman, said without providing details of the surveys.

"We know the desire to purchase a next-generation console would be significantly diminished if new consoles were to prohibit playing pre-owned games, limit portability or not play new physical games," Hodges said in an e-mail. He said the company won’t comment on speculation about the specifics of third-party hardware.

The retailer's statement follows a report by the video-game website Edge.com that Microsoft's next Xbox will include technology that blocks game resales. The system would register video games over the Internet and render resold titles useless, Edge.com reported, without saying where it got the information.