Mobile Phones & Ringtones

The Netflix in Game Rental

December 22nd, 2004

Although I have just come to know GameFly. They apparently have been relatively successful in getting the message out to the public. They won the PC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award in Oct. 2004. And they also started their affiliate marketing program with CJ.com. (Full disclosure: clicking on the GF banner at the right and signing up for a free trial will earn this site a commission.)

I did a search on their site. It seems that they do have most of the popular games on all major game consoles. I would be interested in knowing more about their ability to convert trials into subscription customers and keep them. The business of game rental does seem different to me from that of DVD rental. Most people watch a DVD movie only once and be done with it. But gamers are likely to spend more time on each game and more likely to keep it (i.e. buy it) if they truely like it. Lastly, the target audience for game rental should be smaller than DVD rental. But in any case, this is an interesting trend to watch.

Onto wireless gaming, is anyone out there already copying the Netflix model?

Entry Filed under: Mobile Games