Redbox, which provides video game rentals via automated retail kiosks in North America, has announced it plans to dramatically expand its selection of games for the Xbox One and Playstation 4. The company hopes to make the games available in all its kiosks by the end of this year.
The move will make games such as Star Wars:Battlefront and Halo 5: Guardians available to the company's 37 million subscribers. The games will be available for $3 per 24 hours and the company will focus only on Xbox and PlayStation titles, current Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games will be phased out.
According to Redbox there is little demand for Wii U games which is why the company is not planning to offer these in their kiosk, however when customer demand increases, the company states it might reconsider its stance.
Redbox’s focus on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 comes as those systems close in on their third holiday season. Traditionally a turning point for game makers as early adopters and core players have already bought new systems and, in order to keep the hardware sales momentum going, system manufacturers must focus on a larger audience.
"Microsoft and Sony have to start broadening the audience into more households with kids and figure out what girls want to play on the new platforms," says John Taylor, managing director of Arcadia Research Corp.
Bill West, vice president of games at Redbox, says that timing was key to the company’s decision to push into next generation games at this time.
"Why would Redbox be in the [rental] business in the first [part of the] cycle?," he says. "It doesn't make sense. Where the consoles are in their lifecycle now is perfectly aligned with our customer base."
