Yahoo to offer PC game rental

Yahoo to offer PC game rental

Yahoo today will unveil an on-demand service that lets consumers with high-speed Internet access rent classic PC games like the "Tomb Raider Chronicles,'' "Civilization III," or "Grand Theft Auto 2" for up to a month at a time.

For the first time, consumers can check out an individual PC game for three days -- just as they would a movie or console game rented from Blockbuster. Or, they can purchase one of a variety of packages, allowing them to rent from three to 10 games a month for $5 to $15. Games will be streamed over the Internet as long as players are online.

The Games on Demand service fits with Yahoo's strategy of using music, games and other forms of entertainment to coax its 237 million online users into paying for premium content. "The ability to rent PC games is something that's not available, either offline and online," said David Mandelbrot, vice president and general manager of Yahoo's media and entertainment group. "We're very confident this will be a premium service that users find of great value and are willing to pay for."

Success, however, will hinge on Yahoo's ability to attract hot content. Most of the 40 titles Yahoo offers at launch are games that have been available at retail for a year or more. Some, like "Thief" and "Addiction Pinball," date back to 1998. For game publishers, Yahoo's service opens a fresh distribution channel -- and a way to collect revenue from titles, months after their retail launch.

"This is low-risk stuff from Activision, Infogrames, Take2 and Eidos," said P.J. McNealy, research director for GartnerG2, a San Jose technology research firm. "It's a safe bet, and it gives some of their back catalog more shelf life." The key, said McNealy, is what cutting-edge titles Yahoo will be able to get in the future?

"This is an additional revenue source for library titles where the shelf life is shortening," said Anand Gupta, business development director for Eidos Interactive. "And further, it's a way to reach mass market, because you know Yahoo is the portal of choice."

Gupta said publishers will watch the experiment closely, to be sure that the online rental market doesn't cannibalize sales at retail. But he said he's confident that streaming the games online will broaden the audience beyond the core gamer to casual players looking for a lunchtime diversion. And he said re-introducing classic PC games like "Hit Man" will build anticipation for the sequel, "Hit Man II," when it reaches stores next month.

Yahoo isn't alone in offering online play. Microsoft, RealNetworks, America Online, and Electronic Arts already attract millions of players each month to their online game sites.