GameFly

GameFly is a privately held American online video game rental subscription service that specializes in providing games for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft systems starting from the sixth generation onwards.

GameFly Holdings, LLC.[1]
TypePrivate
FoundedApril 15, 2002 (2002-04-15)
FoundersSean Spector (Co-Founder)
Jung Suh (Co-Founder)
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, U.S.
Key people
Websitegamefly.com

The business model of GameFly is similar to the DVD-by-mail subscription service Netflix and Blockbuster online. In 2009 GameFly sued the U.S. Postal Service alleging the favoring of Netflix and Blockbuster by sorting their DVDs at no charge.[2] GameFly sends games to subscribers for a monthly fee. Over 8,000 titles are available.

In May 2018, Electronic Arts announced that they acquired cloud gaming technology assets and personnel from GameFly (including its Israeli outpost).[3] GameFly is currently owned by the same ownership group as Alliance Entertainment and is operated as a stand-alone company.

History

In May 2002, Sean Spector and Jung Suh partnered with founding CEO Toby Lenk to start GameFly. GameFly later received venture capital funding from Sequoia Capital.[4] In February 2009, GameFly acquired the gaming news and community site Shacknews, along with its download and streaming video sites.[5] It was reported in February 2011 that GameFly had acquired MobyGames.[6] Despite filing plans in February 2010 for an initial public offering, GameFly remains a privately owned company as of 2017.[7] GameFly shut down the streaming service on August 31, 2018.

Purchase of Direct2Drive

In 2011, Gamefly announced that they had acquired Direct2Drive, an online distribution service previously owned by IGN. Direct2Drive later merged with GameFly; subscribers that had both D2D and GameFly accounts were migrated to a single account.

Shortly after the merger, GameFly introduced a new "GameFly Client", which combined the services previously offered by Direct2Drive and GameFly individually; the client came out of beta on November 8, 2012, and allowed direct download and installation of PC games, as well as the rental of games without visiting the GameFly website itself.

As of April 2014, GameFly has since sold Direct2Drive to AtGames.[8]

References
  1. Name Change post sale to Alliance
  2. "Postal Service must stop favoring Netflix DVDs over GameFly ones, says appeals court". Archived from the original on 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  3. Musil, Steven. "EA acquires GameFly subsidiary's cloud technology assets". CNET. Archived from the original on 2020-06-04. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  4. "Gamefly - How it works". Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  5. Morris, Chris (February 4, 2009). "GameFly 'Shacks' Up". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2009-02-06. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  6. Kyle Orland (2011-02-07). "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  7. Matt Krantz (2013-04-10). "Ask Matt: Did GameFly ever go public?". USA Today. Archived from the original on 2013-06-02. Retrieved 2013-11-14.
  8. Nutt, Christian. "Direct2Drive is back under new owner: GameFly Digital is no more". Archived from the original on 2017-04-06. Retrieved 2017-04-05.
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