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Internet media software company RealNetworks has announced its GamePass subscription service, which provides free and discounted games for USD6.95 per month.
The service marks a new departure for game downloads at RealNetworks, since it operates on a "club" subscription model, where members pay a set monthly fee to download a game a month. GamePass members also get discounts on all other games purchased, with games typically costing between USD10 and USD20. Membership is not compulsory for game downloads or purchases but is offered in addition to the company's individual game sales.
The games work in conjunction with the free RealOne Arcade software, an application for finding and managing PC-based and Web-based games.
Andrew Wright, general manager of RealNetworks games division, said the new "club" model should be more convenient for users.
More significantly, however, the subscription service will offer much-needed regular revenues for RealNetworks, which recently revised its outlook for second quarter revenues to between USD42.5 million and USD45 million, a decline from USD47 million for the first quarter. The company attributed the decline to reduced corporate sales of its broadcast software for the quarter, contrary to its earlier expectations.
The company also reported that it now has 700,000 subscribers to RealOne Arcade, an increase of 100,000 from April. However, because corporate clients are a more profitable business for RealNetworks, the increase in consumers would not offset the fall in corporate spending.
RealNetworks expects a net loss of USD0.01 to USD0.02 per share for the quarter and RealNetworks' shares fell 27.5 percent on the news.
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