Gamasutra- Don't look for players who rely on Redbox as their preferred game rental service to join you in a multiplayer game of Halo 4 this year. You won't find them playing Assassin's Creed III online either.
And Medal of Honor: Warfighter? For the most part, they won't be playing that at all.
Redbox kiosks, you see, are only equipped to rent one disc per rental fee – and with games regularly spanning two or even three discs, that has made the decision on what to offer players even more complicated for Redbox officials.
Redbox announced today that its streaming app is now available to download on PlayStation 5. PlayStation 4 users will soon be able to download the app as well. The launch of the Redbox app on PlayStation consoles gives users on-demand access to free, ad-supported shows and movies.
Redbox's Free Live TV service is available on consoles through an app for the Xbox One.
With Redbox ceaseing their game rentals, could this be another example of the digital era coming to the next generation?
I would argue it's a variety of factors, like price hikes, weak content, and piracy are just as much to blame as digital anything, so with their declining business model it makes sense to cut games because that saves money.
Gladly. The uprising of torrents for the last decade brought a cheaper convenience than renting at Redbox.
It’s so easy for many consumers to fleece the system that it isn’t worth it for Redbox to keep providing the service
It was the least accessible option out there. You had to drive to a box, hope the game was there, and hope the last person didn't steal the game.
Versus:
1. Just buying it digitally or on disc on sale, which happens a ton with most games after a month of release.
2. GameFly to your doorstep.
3. Any other digital/streaming option that's popped up.
Gamefly isn't that great when it comes to renting newly released games,it seems they always have old games available first & foremost while all the new games are not available to rent because they're rented out to the masses already. I just buy my games new or old.
Local Blockbuster did that 11 years ago. They’d buy back games for obscene credit, sometimes more than sale price. Not unheard of to buy a game from Bestbuy for $20 and sell it to Blockbuster for $30. Suffice it to say the system collapsed.
Yeah, back when DVD's were hot, I had a shitload of dollar-5 dollar movies that I traded in for 10 plus dollars each.
Oh man. I got to pick 5 free bluray movies as a promotion when I got my PS3, since it doubled as a bluray player. Blu-ray Discs were new and expensive, so I sold them to Blockbuster for a small fortune (that was still cheaper than their distributor). Win-win lol! God bless physical media.
Business models and distribution methods change all the time. If anyone believed that gaming would remain a physical media based distribution model and developers/publishers would stay on a business model that cut them out of the used game sales and rentals they are truly delusional.
Developers/publishers complained about the used and rental market since the start. They tried to work on getting a cut from these retailers. These retailers ignored them... Who is getting the last laugh?
Ohh.. nice.
I do hope that next gen really only requires 1 disc so it's easier for Red Box to go about picking their games.
Would be very interested to if they had handheld games rental.
So X360 is the more popular platform for those who tend to rent games from their company huh.
When next gen comes around I'll definitely consider Redbox.. :)