Sprint PCS and Cingular Wireless L.L.C. subscribers now can buy titles from Jamdat Mobile Inc. at more than 5,000 RadioShack Corp. outlets, the electronics retailer said.
RadioShack sales associates will use a branded in-store Web interface to educate users about mobile games, and purchases are billed through monthly carrier invoices. The retailer said it hopes to sell games through other carriers soon.
RadioShack Monday announced two long-term agreements with Sprint and Cingular to sell the carriers’ wireless services in RadioShack stores.
“People don’t view their wireless phones as mere communication tools anymore,” said Don Carroll, RadioShack’s senior vice president. “By combining the resources (of the two companies), customers will find comfort in knowing they’re getting the right selection of games at affordable prices from a retailer that will take the time to walk them through the purchase and downloading process.”
The launch makes good on an agreement unveiled in January and appears to mark the first time a U.S. game maker will offer wares through brick-and-mortar retail locations. Publishers that have launched similar marketing efforts in other markets have met with mixed success, however. I-play, a U.K. developer and distributor, began offering games through retail outlets three years ago, but has seen the effectiveness of brick-and-mortar marketing wane.
“What we’ve seen over time is that the relative importance of retail has diminished as the carriers have started to take more proactive control of their user bases,” David Gosen, chief operating officer of I-play, said in June. “I think retail could easily have its day again, but in the short term, it’s certainly a channel that is losing out to online and direct carrier activity.”
