John-ShepardWhen Sony announced their upcoming streaming service, PlayStation Now, GameStop shares took a dive.
After all, if players will be able to rent back-catalog games individually (or via subscription package) and play them immediately thanks to the cloud, there's less reason to head out to your local GameStop store.
But the retailer says they want to work with Sony to help sell PlayStation Now memberships to in-store customers. It'd be similar to the way they sell PlayStation Plus subscriptions off the shelf. Said a GameStop representative:
"GameStop has built a $600MM digital business, with most of the digital games sold through our stores. Similar to how we worked closely with our partner Sony to successfully sell the PlayStation Plus service, we are looking forward to working with them on including the new PlayStation Now service as part of our portfolio of gaming products we offer our customers."
PlayStation Now will get a beta test on the PlayStation 3 later this month; the service will ultimately extend to all PlayStation platforms and other Internet-connected devices. Regardless of whether or not GameStop "works with" Sony to sell Now subscriptions, it seems likely that it could negatively impact walk-in traffic. The world continues to embrace digital at a rapid clip… Are you already on board?