As featured in our previous article we are seeing a large shift in the industry to be more mobile and digitally driven than in past years and we have seen Gamestop positioning its self to be a part of this shift. Back in 2011 Gamestop acquired Spawn Labs with the intention of using their steaming gameplay technology for its own online streaming service.  Gamestop CEO J. Paul Raines has announced that although the next generation of console has yet to be released Gamestop is going to be aiming their streaming service at Tablets, PC’s, and Smart TV’s.

"Some things are happening in the gaming business that we're now having to adjust to," Raines said. "One of those is we're moving to a new generation of consoles. So what was our old console based technology now has to change for the new generation of consoles. So that's giving us some challenges on the technology side… we made a decision to move our technology to a PC-based platform, that will allow us to more efficiently stream to web-enabled devices, PCs, and smart TVs and tablets, and it allows us not to have to wait for the next gen of consoles or be disrupted by the rollout of next-gen consoles, which appears to be coming, you know, pretty imminently."

So far Gamestop is keeping the details of their online service under wraps but they have given us some hints as to what they are planning.  What we know is that they intend to have a "try before you buy" system that will allow users to play through a demo of the game.  After trying it out they can pre-order or buy the game. This is not really a new idea as other streaming services like Gaikai are already doing it.  But Gamestop promises to do this on a larger scale than anyone else.

Also on the list of features is the incorporation of PowerUp Reward member status.  Basically if you are a member of PowerUp Rewards with Gamestop then they know what games you have purchased from them and can tailor the games they offer you based on that information. There is also a potential for the streaming of games you already have in your collection, and Mr. Raines added that "We're working with EA to see what content we can put on the service."

The future of Gamestop is looking bright if they can stay on this track and I look forward to seeing their streaming service in action and I’m sure some of you are too.  We'll have to wait a little longer to see exactly how this will all work and what features it will have as it is not scheduled for launch until June 2013.

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