GameFly to launch digital client for PC games

by Shack Staff, Aug 09, 2011 5:30am PDT

Related Topics – Business, PC, GameFly, Digital distribution, GameFly Digital

GameFly, the subscription-based video game rental service, plans to make a dramatic entry this coming holiday into the digital market for PC games. The company announced plans to debut an online digital store for PC games within a digital client that includes a number of other features, such as "Unlimited PC Play." GameFly subscribers will have access to "a large and ever-growing collection of titles" for the Windows/Mac that can be downloaded and played as many times as they want.

Users of the client will able to catalog their video games and create personal customized game libraries to share. In addition, GameFly subscribers will be able to manage their queues for game rentals. The client also includes a store where anyone, including non-subscribers, can pre-order upcoming new release games and purchase used games.

The new desktop client will offer up-to-date news and information streams with the latest in the video game world. The Shacknews.com feed will be part of the mix, as well as a deep collection of HD trailers, videos, and screenshots. Users will have a customizable online identity and be able to engage other users as part of the client's social features.

A closed beta for the client will begin on September 8, with codes being handed out to GameFly members at an event in Los Angeles. The public launch for the client is planned to take place in the holiday season for the United States and United Kingdom.

[Disclosure: Shacknews.com is part of GameFly Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of GameFly, Inc.]

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Daily Filter: August 8, 2011

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Shack Staff posted a new article, GameFly to launch digital client for PC games.

GameFly plans to make a dramatic entry this coming holiday into the digital market for PC games.

Aug 09, 2011 5:30am PDT

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Shack Staff posted a new article, GameFly to launch digital client for PC games.

GameFly plans to make a dramatic entry this coming holiday into the digital market for PC games. : Shacknews
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 107 replies.
- I was wondering why a company that does game disks Netflix style didn't have it's own 'streaming' service... : SpaecKow
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  Curious about this one. Will they have PC rentals too? If so, is it streaming like Gaika or Onlive? : razlebol
  - I've been surprised that gamefly picked up direct2drive and not onlive. Onlive would have tied in well w... : JuffoWup
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  Collective facepalm coming in 3...2...1... : RomSteady
  - OH NO WHOLLY SHIT FAIL TRAIN VALVE IS SUCCESSFUL HOW CAN ANYBODY ELSE THINK THEY CAN BE ALSO : Endymion_
- Shocking. That's so completely different from their core business. : master_disaster_17
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  I predict a battlefield of exciting comments that are all well thought out and based on intelligent thoug... : Durajim
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    I assume that the key difference between Steam and GameFly is the rental of games. : Jonathan
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      To be fair, the only reference to rentals in the article was being able to manage them - I doubt they'll ... : Durajim
      
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      GameFly subscribers will have access to "a large and ever-growing collection of titles" for the Windows/M : Jonathan
      
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      Steam has a ever-growing collection of titles that can be downloaded and played as many times as they wan... : Durajim
      
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      No one subscribes to Steam. : Jonathan
      
      Sure they do, it's just free is all. You can't buy anything on Steam if you don't have a login, ergo it's... : Schnapple
      
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      Well technically all Steam users are subscribers, and all games purchased on steam are subscriptions. Th... : briktal
      
      They don't call it the Steam Subscriber Agreement for nothing. : the archvile
      
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      Good point, I missed that rather important word :) - I can't see publishers being happy with that model; ... : Durajim
      
      Another service that rhymes with Gameflap has been doing it for years. They are typically not the newest ... : DeschainVox
      
      Read the eula : shirif
      
      If this is rental, this is genius and will get alot of my moneys!!!! : SAS_Ale
- A dramatic entry suggests Xav in costume and make up. : Jonathan
- Good luck, guys. Make it good. : LoioshDwaggie
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  Didn't GameFly buy D2D? Isn't this just their digital platform to rival Steam? This is getting obnoxi... : pancake humper
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    D2D never had subscriptions nor a client. : baron calamity
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      That can easily change. D2D is obviously their backend. They are just building a front end for it. It's n... : pancake humper
      
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      Steam doesn't have sunlimted pc play subscriptions either. It looks more like Gametap than steam. : baron calamity
      
      I think you might be reading into that a bit. Steam offers unlimited PC Play (once you buy the game). It ... : pancake humper
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    Everyome's new PC game strategy is to launch a new digital platform to rival Steam, sometimes with lock-i... : the archvile
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      I don't mind using downloadable services that fill in a niche like GOG.com does. They handle selling game... : Mecha Tofu Pirate
      
      Yeah, I really wish that Valve had some kind of internal team to repackage older games so that they'll ru... : DrWaffles
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      how about: any kind of digital delivery monopoly would be awful for PC games : Hemtroll
      
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      But having 8 different logins due to exclusivity sucks too. And most services aren't as consumer-friendl... : the archvile
      
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      I wouldn't call Steam consumer friendly. They have a huge selection and great sales but that is about it.... : baron calamity
      
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      I would. Every action of theirs has been to the betterment of the community at large: * They were the fi... : LoioshDwaggie
      
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      They also: * Offer the lowest fees to publishers/developers (somewhere between 20-30%, which is signific... : LoioshDwaggie
      
      Most importantly they don't fuck with and lie to developers, the way the XBLA team can promise the world ... : SpaecKow
      
      Most of those are business to business agreements and don't directly benefit the customer over other serv... : baron calamity
      
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      Except that their whole system is DRM. : sammyl
      
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      Done right. : razlebol
      
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      Right. DRM in itself is not inherently evil. : crummynz
      
      It is as soon as it starts to punish the people who actually bought the thing. No matter how many bonus f... : AnamonCH
      
      Steam is the DRM I would pay to have all games I own transition to instead of whatever else they're using... : Herman Toothrot
      
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      This is the fucking flimsiest argument I've heard against Steam. So you have to be logged in to play, big... : deject
      
      http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/8/8/ : deject
      
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      I don't like the idea of all my games going away with no recourse if something unexpected happens with my... : MamiyaOtaru
      
      Which is why I always keep that in mind before purchasing something on Steam. I ask myself: is it still w... : AnamonCH
      
      which is why i love Valve. imo the only developer out there that truly puts the customer first, unlike t... : head crab
      
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      I would call Steam consumer friendly at this point in time, they do a lot of things right. I just don't t... : Hemtroll
      
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      Why? When has Gabe or the Valve team ever given any indication that they are not doing this for the bette : LoioshDwaggie
      
      ...and you didn't even mention how good they are to smaller indie devs. : snot3353
      
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      Because if Steam was the only digital delivery service they could do whatever the fuck they wanted. Peopl... : Hemtroll
      
      #55
      
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      By: LoioshDwaggie x Show Full Post
      
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      Their culture. That's why I'm pointing out to you. Everything Valve has ever discussed or done has been about making gaming better for their customers. When they were alone in the market they were doing sales and getting friends lists in and improving.
      
      Their culture is to make things better, damn the costs.
      
      Aug 09, 2011 9:01am PDT
      
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      Their culture. That's why I'm pointing out to you. Everything Valve has ever discussed or done has been a... : LoioshDwaggie
      
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      You seem to like Steam and Valve alot and that's fine. However, they're still a business and will contin : mobab
      
      I'm going purely on their actions, which speak to their intentions. Take a look at the evidence of Valve'... : LoioshDwaggie
      
      agreement as in special agreements that hinders the customer. : mobab
      
      I have 400+ games on Steam (bad with money) and I really can't disagree with anything you're saying. As a : The Grolar Bear
      
      I guess my comment didn't post from my phone but what I tried to say was that when they were alone in the... : Hemtroll
      
      I wouldn't call any of your posts "worth reading". : Crabs Jarrard
      
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      The ideal solution would be 4 different logins to services which offer all the games : Hemtroll
      
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      The ideal solution would be to release it on every platform, and let the best one win on its merits. : LoioshDwaggie
      
      yes, that is essentially what I meant. : Hemtroll
      
      I would prefer that all my digitally bought games be placed in a single pool. These digital services get... : mobab
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  This is honestly a good idea. I'm definitely down for it. : frdranger
  - ^. I'd be more willing to try this out than something like OnLive. : limpossible
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  I guess this means Valve is really onto something with Steam. I mean between this, the EA/Origin thing, a... : Schnapple
  - impossible, pc gaming, dead, etc..... I just hope all this doesn't hurt PC gaming in the long run. : aethyr
- The article isn't really clear about this, but can non-GF-subscribers purchase digital releases? : DrWaffles
- is this a game streaming thing or is it like steam because if it's streaming, then No Sir I Do Not Lik... : ETPC1
- As long as they don't ruin D2D and don't go US exclusive I'm ok with that. Learn from Valve and don't pul... : Hemtroll
- I'm confused, is this rentals and/or sales? If it includes rentals that is awesome. They should be able... : aethyr
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  Why doesn't Steam rent games? : .frame
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    Rent game, break DRM, get game for rental price. Ta daaaaaaaa. Granted, if you're going to do that, yo... : Deathlove
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      I know publishers think some of the dumbest things but some of them seem to be ok with the free weekends.... : Mecha Tofu Pirate
      
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      that is what I was thinking... : .frame
      
      Those are mostly multiplayer only free weekends though, where having the MP is probably pointless because... : Johnnsen
    - Not really a good excuse. If I didn't want to pay for a game I don't have too already. I pay for games ... : legsbrogan
  - That would be more for the streaming services. : SpaecKow
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    Probably because most games can be beat in a few hours these days. : razlebol
    - Amen. : AnamonCH
  - This is one reason I actually like OnLive. : ColoradoCNC
- I am just surprised they are not planning to charge extra for it. I mean I would be more than willing to ... : XwingVmanX
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  FUCK THIS! I like all my eggs in one damn basket. : GoldfishInAJarOfPickles
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    What if someone made a bigger basket that contained all the other baskets? woa. : systatic
    - pimp yo basket : GoldfishInAJarOfPickles
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  Who is "Shack Staff" and when did they start writing for this site? Pretty fortunate that they got a job ... : Haxim
  - What are the odds that Lou Gehrig got Lou Gehrig's disease? : Endymion_
  - Haha, I was just going to post this. : zebosausamite
  - Much better than Shack Staph. That guy always had something wrong with him. : ShoCon
- Although I stopped console gaming, I loved GameFly when I did and it was worth every penny. Now if I can ... : sonicbrewz
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  If Gamefly could somehow let me rent XBox 360 games via download/streaming - I would be all over it. For... : janblood
  - Yea Microsoft is going to let Gamefly have access to their console system. : Gyruss
- Is this going to be available internationally or only NA again? : Johnnsen
- When are they going to buy more shipping centers? : DevSword
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  Don't know why they wouldn't include all the information that's in the press release about this: "Game... : jacobvandy
  - By which, I mean it doesn't look like there will be individual rentals available to everyone, they're lik... : jacobvandy
- Oh nice, I love launching my PC games via one of many clients. : Happy Doodle Muffin
- Sounds cool its too bad i won't be using the beta code am a console gamer : ShineDaGreatest
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  Another client. Though I guess with this being like Netflix it isn't so bad. Wont be availble in the U... : Beady
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    The public launch for the client is planned to take place in the holiday season for the United States and : Haxim
    - I was too busy rioting to read the article. : Beady
- need a pidgin or trillian or digsby-like client to aggregate them all into one app : spiderfill
- I'll be all over this if it means PC rentals. I'm not interested in buying games from you guys though, s... : DinK
- Current members of the community site Shacknews.com will receive a permanent 50% discount on all future p : Trips
- NOPE.avi : MeestaNob
- I'm really looking forward to this! Quite honestly, I could see myself moving to this over Steam. ::sig... : BlockheadBrown
- I'll give you guys a try but really dont see why we need this.... : apocreg
- I would prefer not to split up my digital purchases into different ecosystems; I am, however, very excite... : badcaps

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