14 DAY TRIAL // GameStop is well known for its second hand market presence and has been widely criticized by publishers because of that presence, but now the company says that it has another new major revenue stream coming online.
Speaking during an earnings call, the executives at GameStop emphasized that the new industry wide effort to launch downloadable content actually helps the retailer grow its revenue.
Tony Bartel, who is the president of the retail chain, has said, “We're on pace to sell more DLC in the first quarter this year than we sold all of last year.”
Paul Raines, who is the chief executive officer, has added, “GameStop is introducing mom and dad to DLC. Lots of consumers who've never even understood what DLC is are getting introduced to it. They're liking it and buying more and more DLC at GameStop stores.”
The company says that, when the Xbox 360 version of Call of Duty: Black Ops received the First Strike DLC, more than a quarter of the copies sold through GameStop included the new content.
Much of the revenue needed to beat First Strike came from the trade-ins that gamers brought into stores.
GameStop has also announced that it will soon allow players to actually place pre-orders on digital content, with same day delivery assured.
The service will allow gamers to order some new content when they hear about it and then forget all about it before actually showing up in game.
The company also believes that, although DLC will become more important to its store sale process, it will not introduce full game download on gaming console any time soon.
The Kongregate gaming site, focused on smaller gaming experience, which GameStop bought last year, is also performing well, with both traffic and revenue increasing significantly over the fourth quarter of 2010.