The video-game retailer GameStop will start offering a subscription service that lets people play as many second-hand games as they like, as long as they only take out one at a time.
According to a since-confirmed “leak” of a magazine ad for GameStop’s PowerPass scheme, an up-front payment of $60 will allow people to “pick any pre-owned game, from throwback classics to the latest hits,” and to swap them out as many times as they like for six months.
At the end of that period, anyone who’s signed up will be able to keep the last game they’ve taken out.
In order to participate, people will need to be a member of GameStop’s Power-Up Rewards program, even if it’s just the free tier. They will be able to get any pre-owned game that’s physically in their local GameStop store, but not the ones on GameStop’s online roster.
GameStop’s PowerPass scheme will start taking registrations on November 19.
As Mashable has pointed out, this unexpected move from GameStop (GME) may represent a way for the company to make money from an overstock of second-hand games.
It’s likely a reaction to the chain’s falling profits, as GameStop struggles to maintain its bricks-and-mortar business model in the face of more modern, online game distribution systems.