Gamefly has been serving gamers for nearly 10 years now, delivering console games to subscriber’s mailboxes and preventing massive amounts of buyer’s remorse. However, gamers who chose the PC as their platform of choice were always left in the dark. Gamefly hopes to change that by the end of 2011 with the release of a new PC-game download client, made available for free to all subscribers.
Gamefly co-founder Sean Spector told USA Today the following:
“It’s kind of like a Spotify or a Rhapsody or a Napster. You have access to the content as long as you are a subscriber, but when you are no longer a member, the content then disappears. We are in discussion with all the major publishers. You have the physical and now you are going to have access to the digital as well. Gamefly subscribers will truly get a benefit at no extra cost.”
The client is also going to have social networking features built in, such as the ability to make a collection of games and share them with other subscribers, as well as following certain subscribers and what they play.
The service is going into closed beta on September 8th, with the full service launching sometime later this year. There will be about 100 games available when the client is finalized, with more on the way.
I must say, as a former Gamefly subscriber myself, this seems like a pretty good deal. My only complaint with the mail service was that all the distribution centers are along the coasts and, living in the Midwest, shipping times were less-than-stellar. Consider myself interested.
