GameFly
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This article appears to be written like an advertisement. (August 2010) |
| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rental |
| Founded | September 8, 2002 |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California[1][dead link] |
| Key people | David Hodess, CEO & President Sean Spector, Co-Founder & VP of Business development and Marketing Jung Suh, Co-Founder & VP of Content and Strategic Alliances |
| Products | Video games for video game consoles |
| Website | www.gamefly.com |
GameFly is an American online video game rental subscription service that specializes in providing games for game consoles and handheld game consoles.
The business model of GameFly is similar to the DVD-by-mail subscription service Netflix or Blockbuster online. GameFly sends games to subscribers for a monthly fee.
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History [edit]
In early 2002, Sean Spector and Jung Suh partnered with founding CEO Toby Lenk to start GameFly. GameFly later received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital.[2] In February 2009, GameFly acquired the gaming news and community site Shacknews, along with its download and streaming video sites.[3]
Rental offerings [edit]
Launched on September 8, 2002, GameFly offered 6000 titles for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the Nintendo GameCube. A few months after launch, GameFly began renting Game Boy Advance games in addition to disc-based games. In November 2004, GameFly added Nintendo DS games to rent. On March 21, 2005, GameFly added PlayStation Portable (PSP) games to their offerings, and near the end of April 2005, GameFly also added UMD movies.[4] GameFly also began offering Xbox 360 titles prior to the launch of the console in November 2005. On July 6, 2006, Gamefly offered games for Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3. In 2009, PC games were also added. Also, in 2010, 3DS games were available for rental. Then, in 2012, GameFly also added the "PlayStation Vita" to their product lines, and also edited their rental rules, saying that from January 1 and on-ward, if you pay any paid membership, your membership also includes free PC downloads.
GameFly does not support older game systems, such as the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, PlayStation, or the Dreamcast. They originally did not plan on adding PC games to its catalog due to legal issues involving the requirement to install PC games onto the owner's hard drive.[5] However, this has changed since GameFly has acquired Direct2Drive, which offers PC game rental services.[6]
On September 8, 2011, GameFly launched a beta version of the direct download to PC subscription. This service will enable customers with beta invites to download and play PC titles from their computer. The same subscription model applies however, games can now be delivered online.[7]
Purchase of Direct2Drive [edit]
In 2011 Gamefly announced that they had acquired Direct2Drive, an online distribution service previously owned by IGN. Direct2Drive later merged with Gamefly; subscribers that had both D2D and GameFly accounts were migrated to a single account.
Shortly after the merger, GameFly introduced a new 'GameFly Client', which combined the services previously offered by Direct2Drive and GameFly individually; the client came out of beta on November 8, 2012 and allows direct download and installation of PC games, as well as the rental of games without visiting the GameFly website itself. As a bonus during the launch of the new client, GameFly offered Bioshock as a free download, though credit card information was still required to access the download offer.
Service plans [edit]
GameFly offers four different plans, depending on how many games are rented at a time. All plans are for unlimited games, meaning that the user is not charged on a per-rental basis, but on a monthly basis. Sales tax is not included and, where applicable, it is charged on a per-rental basis in most states.
- Currently, the first-month introductory price for all new (first-time) members is $5.95 for 1 game out at a time, and $9.95 for 2 games out at a time, with every following month a set [regular] price based on the plan selected. Gamefly currently offers a ten day free trial for new users.
- 1 game out at a time-$15.95 per month
- 2 games out at a time-$22.95 per month
- 3 games out at a time-$29.95 per month
- 4 games out at a time-$36.95 per month
Members are not able to enroll in the 3 and 4 game plans until after they have had a paid account on the site for 60 days.[8] All memberships include free PC game downloads, as of 2012, January 1.
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ "GameFly Continues Growing, But IPO Hopeful's Deficit Persists". The Wall Street Journal. July 13, 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Sequoia Capital funds GameFly".
- ^ Morris, Chris (February 4, 2009). "GameFly 'Shacks' Up". Forbes. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
- ^ http://www.gamefly.com/press/pr_20050321.asp?pg=4&prn=1
- ^ "Answer: Why don’t you rent PC games?".
- ^ "GameFly Inc. Acquires Direct2Drive from IGN Entertainment".
- ^ "Gamefly Adds Download For PC Game Rentals".
- ^ "Answer: Why am I not able to upgrade to the 3 or 4-game plans".
