For the past few years, GameFly has been the Netflix of gaming. Console gamers interested in trying out the latest games could simply add games to their queue and get them in the mail within a few days. Now GameFly has its sights set on the PC gaming market, and has opened a new digital storefront to cement its ambitions.
GameFly announced today that it’s launching what it calls GameFly Digital – a Web-based storefront for digital downloads of PC games. GameFly promises over 2,500 PC and Mac games at launch with more titles to be added over the coming weeks.
“We always wanted to bring the striking design and functionality of our PC client to the web so that everyone could access it from any browser,” said Saujin Yi, GM of GameFly Digital.
With its entrance into the digital PC game storefront marketplace, GameFly joins an increasing number of digital retailers all trying to compete with Steam. Origin and Green Man Gaming have been able to snag some marketshare away through exclusives and sales respectively, but what does GameFly have to offer over the other guys?
As part of its press release, GameFly boasts that it makes it easier for consumers to look for PC games with what it calls “Collection.” In short, it’s a curated list of games either from a specific publisher (i.e. Square Enix Store) or a specific series (i.e. XCOM Store). It’s a nice gesture, but it’s not exactly revolutionary as Steam also allows players to look for games by publisher.
In its excitement over the launch of its new storefront, GameFly neglected to mention that it does have one thing that sets it apart from the rest – Unlimited PC Play. Much like its console rental service, Unlimited PC Play allows PC gamers to download any game as part of the service and keep it as long as they remain a subscriber. Unfortunately, the service doesn’t feature many new games so its appeal is limited. It is, however, something that GameFly may want to highlight in future advertising of its PC store.
On a final note, GameFly has partnered with 2K Games to launch its new digital storefront. Gamers who choose to buy from GameFly will save up to 80 percent on a number of 2K Games’ titles. As a bonus, players who buy any 2K title from GameFly Digital will get a free copy of Mafia II.
