RealNetworks’ online video games go rental

Ben Berkowitz

LOS ANGELES: Streaming media provider RealNetworks Inc. plans to launch on

Wednesday the final, non-test version of its RealArcade video game software,

including a new online game rental section that will serve as the largest test

yet of a still-unproven delivery system.

The system, which uses technology for streaming games, rather than

downloading them over the Internet, will allow users to rent PC-based video

games and play them online, the company said. The rental system was not present

in the "beta", or test version of the software, which launched in May.

There are no downloads involved except for a small piece of software from

Cambridge, Mass-based Into Networks that loads the software into a buffer as it

downloads, the companies said. This new platform comes at a time when physical

video game rentals have fallen sharply.

Through the week ending Sept. 23, video game rentals were down 12 per cent

over 2000, according to the VidTrac report from the Video Software Dealers

Association. The RealArcade software is free but it will cost $4.99 to rent

access to one game for seven days, or $14.99 to access all of the games on the

site for one month.

That monthly rental fee will be discounted to $9.99 for the first month, said

Paul Thelen, group product manager for RealArcade. The rental section will

launch with 11 games, including titles like "Deus Ex" and "Unreal

Tournament", with plans to add three to four games every month, Thelen

said.

RealArcade has had 2 million downloads in the five months since the May beta

launch, Thelen said. Real expects to have an installed base for the RealArcade

software of 5 million users by the end of the year. Real will promote the launch

to all the users of its RealPlayer software, including an offer of $100 in free

downloadable games and two free rentals for new users of the Arcade software,

Thelen said.

Five publishers on board

A total of five publishers and 45 independent developers are now

participating in RealArcade, Thelen said, including British publisher Eidos Plc.

and Infogrames Inc. Though the deal with each publisher is different, Thelen

said generally each publisher will get a percentage of the fee from each game

rental and Into will also get a small percentage on each transaction for the use

of their technology.

While Real has an existing deal with Infogrames for streaming content, the

Eidos relationship came through Into, said Meredith Flynn-Ripley, the president

and chief operating officer of privately held Into. Into has similar, but

smaller-scale game rental relationships with retailer Electronics Boutique

Holdings Corp. and portal ExciteAtHome Corp. , said Flynn-Ripley. "At this

point streaming software is only beginning to hit the masses," Flynn-Ripley

said, adding that she expected the deal to help "grow the overall online

gaming pie."

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.