| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rental |
| Founded | September 8, 2002 |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California[1] |
| Key people | David Hodess, CEO & President Sean Spector, Co-Founder & VP of Business Development and Marketing Jung Suh, Co-Founder & VP of Content and Strategic Alliances |
| Products | Video games for video game consoles |
| Website | www.gamefly.com |
GameFly is an American online video game rental subscription service that specializes in providing games for game consoles and handheld game consoles.
The business model of GameFly is similar to the DVD-by-mail subscription service Netflix or Blockbuster online, GameFly sends games to subscribers for a monthly fee.
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In early 2002, Sean Spector and Jung Suh partnered with founding CEO Toby Lenk to start GameFly. GameFly later received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital.[2] In February 2009, GameFly acquired the gaming news and community site Shacknews, along with its digital download and streaming video sites.[3]
In February 2010, Gamefly filed with the SEC to raise up to $50 million in an initial public offering. [4]
Launched on September 8, 2002, GameFly offered 6000 titles for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the Nintendo GameCube. A few months after launch, GameFly began renting Game Boy Advance games in addition to disc-based games. In November 2004, GameFly added Nintendo DS games to rent. On March 21, 2005, GameFly added PlayStation Portable (PSP) games to their offerings, and near the end of April 2005, GameFly also added UMD movies.[5]
GameFly also began offering Xbox 360 titles prior to the launch of the console in November 2005. On July 6, 2006, Gamefly offered games for Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.
GameFly does not support older game systems, such as the Sega Genesis, Nintendo 64, Super Nintendo, PlayStation, or the Dreamcast. They also do not plan on adding PC games to its catalog due to legal issues involving the requirement to install PC games onto the owner's hard drive.[6] However, this could soon change since Gamefly has acquired Direct2Drive, which offers PC game rental services.[7]
On the 8th September 2011, GameFly launched a beta version of the direct download to PC subscription. This service will enable customers with beta invites to download and play PC titles from their computer. The same subscription model applies however, games can now be digitally delivered.[8]
GameFly offers four different plans, depending on how many games are rented at a time. All plans are for unlimited games, meaning that the user is not charged on a per-rental basis, but on a monthly basis. Sales tax is not included and, where applicable, it is charged on a per-rental basis in most states.
Members are not able to enroll in the 3 and 4 game plans until after they have had a paid account on the site for 60 days. [9]