The entire games industry is grappling with the transition from boxed product to digital, and while retail disc-based games may remain the dominant form for several more years, it's clear that digital distribution is rising quickly. GameStop appointed a new GM for its digital business last November and the company has talked repeatedly about becoming the "worlds largest digital aggregator."
Now it appears Amazon.com is looking at the digital games space too. The popular e-tailer already has a solid digital presence in the music and video sectors, but it still only sells boxed video game product online. That could be changing soon, according to some job listings uncovered by Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian, who believes that Amazon may launch a digital distribution service like Valve's Steam.
"Our periodic checks of job postings uncovered a search by Amazon in the video game category to help implement a new digital distribution platform. As in other segments of digital media, we expect Amazon to pursue new opportunities as an aggregator of online games, similar to Steam (PC), BigPoint (browser) and others," said Sebastian. "Since the company already has the infrastructure to deliver digital content, we believe that increased selection and a focus on the user experience will be key factors in gaining further market share. Overall, Amazon currently has roughly 1,250 open positions, with a concentration on software development with 511 open requisitions (41% of total)."
IndustryGamers thinks Amazon would definitely have a leg up in the digital games space. It's a very trusted brand and online storefront, and the company already has shown some digital expertise.
2 Comments
March 28, 2010
Cool. I buy from Amazon a lot but I probably won't buy any big games as a lot of these download once or twice policies and media rights nonsense gets in the way too much for me.
June 1, 2010
The gaming industry is a very profitable one and it' no surprise that Amazon wants a part of the action. It's already well established in the internet community and any new service it will come up with will become popular immediately.Easy Saver