GameStop now selling PSN content in stores

by JC Fletcher on Nov 9th 2010 10:00PM

GameStop continues its march toward the Store of the Future, by offering PSN content both in-store and (soon) online. The retailer started offering Xbox Live DLC in-store earlier this year.

According to Sony and GameStop, cards for PlayStation Plus subscriptions, PSN games and add-on content will be available in 4,400 GameStop stores this month, and will also be available through GameStop.com. Not only is this a way for GameStop to get a piece of the exploding digital distribution market, it's a much more elegant way to gift a specific game, we suppose, than just writing "Scott Pilgrim" in Sharpie on a $10 PSN card.

Show full PR text

Downloadable Content for the PlayStation®3 System
Available in GameStop Stores and Online

November 9, 2010 – Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) and video game retail giant GameStop Corp. today unveiled their partnership to sell select downloadable content (DLC) offerings for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system in-store and online. The content, also available for download using a PlayStation®Network (PSN) account on PlayStation systems, can now be purchased at GameStop retail locations and will soon be available on www.GameStop.com.

The downloadable content, including full PSN games and add-ons, as well as PlayStation®Plus subscriptions, are currently available in select GameStop stores and will continue to be added to the PlayStation DLC section in more than 4,400 retail stores and www.GameStop.com throughout the rest of the month. With more than 1.25 billion pieces of content downloaded worldwide on PlayStation Network and more than 60 million registered PSN users, this newest initiative offers the robust PlayStation® community the option of purchasing digital content through GameStop, the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer.

"We are always looking for new ways PlayStation Network users can expand, extend and enhance their overall entertainment experience," said Tim Bender, senior vice president of sales, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Being able to purchase downloadable digital content at retail provides yet another convenient purchasing option for gamers."

GameStop's senior vice president of merchandising Bob McKenzie added, "We worked hard to bring this technology to market and are absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment. DLC content, which typically costs between $10 and $15, makes a terrific holiday gift for gamers who enjoy playing titles with available add-on content."

Tags: dlc, gamestop, playstation, playstation-plus, ps3, psn, psp, retail, sony

Reader Comments (48)

This is actually a good idea. I know a friend who's not online at all with his PS3, now he can get DLC or a standalone PSN game.

@brettjr25

Never mind. I guess you still have to have online connection to download the game. I thought it was some stupid buy and bring home type of thing. Sorry for stupid reply.

@brettjr25

Don't feel bad, you literally had a better idea than Gamestop.

@brettjr25 You still need to be on line to get the content though.

@brettjr25
I had the same though lol
Actually, I was hoping this would mean that we could possibly start to get discounted stuff online, though I'm not sure how.

All I know is paying $40 for dissidia would suck for PSP Go users especially when they look at the $8 used copies sitting around. I don't think the actual price of the Go was so outrageous, it was the software.

@brettjr25
I think this is aimed at people without an access to a credit card (teens).

Cool. My only question is why would anyone do this?

@tenacioustoaster

You mean besides the obvious reason clearly mentioned in the article?

@tenacioustoaster

12 Year old kids who don't have credit cards.

@Masker13

And people who have tons of store credit saved up, though they probably just could've gotten a PSN funds card thing.

@sonicspike41

No actually. I understand why gamestop would do it. I don't understand why anyone would go out of their way to buy DLC from gamestop.

@tenacioustoaster For the record I understand the reasons in the article. I just think they are dumb.

@tenacioustoaster

Well for XBLA you have to buy set amount of points, but you can just go to Gamestop and buy the individual card. For example, the cheapest XBLA points card is 20, for 1600 points. I just wanted MNC, so I bought MNC seperately and didn't have leftover points.

PSN I know requires a minimum amount to add funds to your wallet, though I'm not sure the amount, but after that amount you can add specific amounts of money. It's a good idea for XBLA, so I imagine Gamestop figured they should at least attempt to sell the same thing for PSN.

@tenacioustoaster because I can now use trade in credit on something that I am willing to dedicate my time and credit to. It's nice to have that and they may have sales here and there like Amazon does.

@Cleric Minimum amount to add to your PSN wallet is $5.

@MSUHitman

The min is $5 to add to your wallet but Sony now lets you pay the exact amount for your purchase, making the use of a wallet pointless.

@tenacioustoaster
I largely shop by impulse. I might browse through Gamestop with a few bucks in my pocket and go, "Hey! They have that Fallout 3 DLC I've been meaning to get."

Okay, yeah, my reason is dumber than these guys'.

@tenacioustoaster

Best Buy has been selling a few vouchers as well. They are great for gifts. I know people who buy PSN cards just to buy a specific game...makes it easier to just pay for the specific game voucher. I've also had friends get screwed out of being able to thanks to that sweet double tax -_-;;

I guess this is if you don't want to or are unable to use a credit card. Or wait, are there prepaid cards for PSN?

....probably.

@Acosta02

Indeed there are. There are PSN cards that contain a preset limit and are just like buying an Xbox points card.

This would make gifting PSN games easier, and allow people to buy them with actual paper money, checks, or store credit.

This is good... I guess? yes? no? I DONT KNOW!!

@Angel Mass

I don't know either. I thought digital distrobution was an attempt to circumvent the retail middleman. If this was a prison break, it would be like digging a tunnel that would lead to another cell.

This sounds incredibly stupid.

I could understand if this was a way to get DLC without having a online connection, but why would someone buy DLC from Gamestop instead of buying it from their consoles?

@Bigduo209

Gift. It's also a way to get downloadable games more exposure.

@Cleric I instantly thought of gifts too. Especially for acquaintances who might need a friendly nudge towards better games. ;)

@Cleric

But why not just allow to gift games from their console? Type in a family member's PSN and buy/download a game for them that get's transferred over to their PS3s.

@Bigduo209

Because 'mom' is not going to do that. Plus you want to give them SOMETHING physical for a gift.

Makes sense in some ways I suppose.

They are probably aiming for the same result as the confectionery or odd items at the checkouts in shops, those little things you notice and think, "ooo that's cheap and I now feel like a *item*"

Yes, i'm sure many of you are super cool and don't ever buy something from these area's but I would put money on the idea that it will encourage impulse buys.

hell, I don't browse PSN (except PSOne classics) and I'm sure there's heaps of cool stuff I'm missing out on, but don't actively look for.

@Hivetyrant You have the best avatar on this website.

@Credge

I must agree.

OK I'm no Business Major, and I didn't really think this out too well but who is losing out on this deal? I mean say you go get game X on PSN for $3.00, now totally pulling numbers from my behind lets say the developer gets $1, the publisher gets $1 and Sony gets $1. Now is the content more expensive buying the card from Gamestop or are they taking a cut from everyone else so instead of everyone getting $1 they all get .75 cents? Or I guess Gamestop could be getting nothing but hahahahah yeah right

@kazD

On my receipt it states MNC for 14.99, which is how much MS funny money it is, in regular digits.

It's not always about profit in business though, this is probably something to improve vendor relations. I'm sure Gamestop gets something out of it, I imagine it's the same thing as WoW cards.

I think it's a very good idea, for several reasons, some of which have already been mentioned but I'll repeat them:

1. Gamestop store credit from trade-in's can be used to buy digital content
2. Specific gifts
3. No need to use a credit card for purchase (for those that can't use them)
4. I'd prefer to have digital copies of games these days because they run faster (shorter load times) and they're more convenient (I don't have to pick which UMD's I'm going to carry around.)
5. It's about time Gamestop embraces digital sales. Now I can enjoy everything I like about Gamestop: pre-orders, midnight early-releases for some games, trade-in's, experienced gaming staff I can ask questions to about games I'm considering, affordable used games, and now I can buy digital content, too.

Oh, and no, I don't work for Gamestop, but I do have a lot of shares in their company. Hopefully the non-gaming investors out there will get over their fears about digital distribution being a problem for Gamestop with this news. It's a solid company and has performed well even during this recession.

I'm glad I can go buy the next two PSP games I wanted digitally now instead of piling up more slow, clunky UMD's. Oh yeah, and reason number 6. for me:

I can pay cash for digital content without my credit card bill indicating exactly how much I spend on games every month. For those of you that are married, you'll understand what I mean. ;)

@Chimaera9

There's this great secret you should know. Those PSN 10, 20, and 50 dollar cards in the store? You can use those to buy games digitally, and the funds can be used for *any* purchase and won't be devalued if a sale happens on PSN for that digital version.

@Chimaera9

Oh trust me, cash back at a grocery store for a PSN or XBL card... way ahead of you.

@chimpsmith

Yeah, thanks for the tip--already did that a number of times, especially when the $20 cards were on sale at Target for $17. I bought up about $140 worth and they lasted me for several months on PSN. I hope they have that sale again.

Not a bad idea. Just not really a GOOD idea either. At least for consumers...

Even before I had a credit card I didn't have trouble getting a psn card (usually from Gamestop :D)

So, will "Gamestop DLC Pre-order exclusives" eventually
pop up on this service as "Game DLC Exclusives"?

I'm just waiting for the ability to "trade-in" digital game. I don't know how it would work so don't ask me. All I know is I have a copy of Punisher: No Mercy, I'm trying to get rid of.

I remember back in the day when Gamestop said they weren't concerned about downloadables at all.

Looks like they came to their senses

@Lerkero

Digital content still has a way to go. If anything they are looking much further down the road just sewing the seeds for potiential etc etc. As of now there are many issues that hold digital distribution back; especially issues with bandwidth and service provided by ISPs, storage issues and to some extent "rights" and "ownership" battles that will no doubt start once digital distribution takes off. Not to mention that the United States is pretty far behind places like Japan as far as high speed connectivity and the affordablility and availability of it to citizens.

And if you're still awake, that concludes my essay.

@That Burning Sensation

I totally agree with you, but tell that to the investors out there in the stock market. Gamestop has been one of the top five performers and has done well during the recession, but the stupid investors are all totally paranoid about digital distribution and have no idea that we're at least a few years away from it ever being a threat to hard-copy game sales. It's really annoying--just go read some of the investor comments for GME, they have no clue what they're talking about.

Next step will be Gamestop offering codes for gear etc if you buy your online stuff at their store. At the moment it's about getting as many people in through the doors as possible.

shouldnt of gamestop been doing this already but besides that this is awesome

"Not only is this a way for GameStop to get a piece of the exploding digital distribution market, it's a much more elegant way to gift a specific game, we suppose, than just writing "Scott Pilgrim" in Sharpie on a $10 PSN card."

Man, that made me laugh.

Well the good thing is that they still have them at 7-11 out here. Pick up an 18 pack, and a PSN card..lol

What I want more than anything is the ability to run my DLC games off an external USB drive....or access DLC from the same source.

...that would be great.

This is very convenient for people who cant' use credit cards. +1 GameStop I'd say.

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GameStop now selling PSN content in stores

Reader Comments (48)

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:07PM brettjr25 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:08PM brettjr25 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:13PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:24PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 8:25AM Bewoulf said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 10:25AM blueskyv201 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:11PM tenacioustoaster said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:14PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:15PM Masker13 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:18PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:20PM tenacioustoaster said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:21PM tenacioustoaster said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:24PM Cleric said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:34PM psyXcho said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:50PM MSUHitman said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:26AM brettjr25 said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 8:29AM Bewoulf said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 11:42AM Jon Jon said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:14PM Acosta02 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:17PM sonicspike41 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:22PM Angel Mass said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:17AM That Burning Sensation said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:29PM Bigduo209 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:31PM Cleric said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:37PM Pure Black World Tendency said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:19AM Bigduo209 said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:25AM Cleric said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:43PM Hivetyrant said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 2:52AM Credge said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 3:29PM Assassin said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:53PM kazD said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:12PM Cleric said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 10:57PM Chimaera9 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:25PM chimpsmith said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 2:02AM MinimumWageNinja said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 2:41AM Chimaera9 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:02PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Nov 9th 2010 11:56PM GlassAgate said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:11AM That Burning Sensation said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:14AM Lerkero said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:30AM That Burning Sensation said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 2:46AM Chimaera9 said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 12:45AM Aeschylus said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 1:03AM dhughes60 said

Posted: Nov 10th 2010 1:59AM MinimumWageNinja said

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