Increasingly, the gaming industry seems to be headed towards a digital future where purchases are made online for game downloads. In fact, Xbox Live Arcade point cards are one of the biggest sellers at GameStop.
“We . . . have been a huge seller of those points in the marketplace,” said Shawn Freeman, GameStop’s SVP/GM of Digital. “As I understand it, we’re neck and neck, or we sell even more, than they sell directly through Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. Which speaks to our access to gamers who care about playing those games.”
While people can make specific download purchases (like map packs and Xbox Live Arcade games) at GameStop, the plan is to do so much more. “Today you pick the card up off the rack that’s associated with that map pack, we ring it up as part of your transaction in the store, and then we give you the code that allows you go home and [access the content], said Freeman. “Ultimately, we want to reduce even more of that friction, so when you buy that map pack in our store, we’re going to be able to associate your Xbox profile with your GameStop profile, and then automatically push that to your download queue.”
“We’re the ones that do a great job of helping consumers understand what their opportunities and options are for playing games,” added Freeman. “By providing an opportunity for our sales associate to sell the games themselves to consumers, we can drive more of those sales.
Source: Ars Technica
