Walmart Launches Gamecenter, Wants More of the Videogame Business

Retail giant Walmart has announced that it is launching a new online destination called Gamecenter, which will focus on offering players significant sales promotions and low shipping fees for standard options.

The site will have quite a bit of content apart from the actual storefront, hosting video previews for big launches, interviews and other editorial content. Those players who log in now to the official Gamecenter site and pre-order three or more videogames from it will get an eGift card from Walmart worth 50 dollars, which is a good deal considering that a pre-order will likely set a gamer back about 60 dollars.

The announcement from Walmart got a reaction from Dan DeMatteo, the Chief Executive Officer of specialist retailer GameStop, who told an analyst, “I'm not sure about the sustainability. I'm not sure how long they plan on doing that. As I said before, we think our unique advantages in-store are our pre-release marketing ability to trade and get the immediate currency. That is something that has allowed us to continue gain marketshare.”

When it comes to the used games market, Walmart pays for the shipping costs when a gamer sends in a title in order to get in-store credit. The same kind of business model is offered by online retailer Amazon.

The business of selling boxed videogames is getting ever more crowded. Target recently announced that it planned to expand its focus on electronics and videogames, making the area of the store more customer-friendly. BestBuy is also keen on drawing customers in with more significant discounts on some titles and a more knowledgeable staff.

Walmart could quickly become the biggest player in the business, considering that it already has a lot of customers who come in for other purchases and that it can significantly cut prices if it wants to get market share quickly.