Here at VentureBeat, we use the word “disruptive” a lot. Like, a lot. How is Company X disrupting the social or gaming market? Why is Corporation Y notable? What is Startup Z doing differently than everyone else? Sometimes it’s hard to identify exactly what sets certain products and businesses apart from each other, but that’s certainly not the case with Redbox.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":478023,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,games,media,","session":"A"}']Owned by parent company Coinstar, the DVD and game rental kiosk chain has been so disruptive in the entertainment industry that it helped Netflix hammer the final nail in Blockbuster’s coffin. Redbox has doubled its annual revenue year after year, cutting so deeply into Hollywood’s piggybank that several movie studios attempted legal action, eventually settling to impose a 28-day delay before new releases hit Redbox machines.
But that’s all old news. Last year, Redbox turned its sights on video game rentals in a big way and has shared some recent stats from that endeavor with GamesBeat, all of which we’ve put into this nifty (and exclusive) infographic for you:
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Not surprisingly, Redbox says that families are hitting the rental machines the most, usually grabbing something lighter for the kids — such as Just Dance 3 — while the adults go for more mature titles like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
While I proudly take home a stack of movies from Redbox every weekend, I’ll admit to also grabbing the occasional game and tearing through it for achievements. However, it will be interesting to see if game rentals can provide the same growth for Redbox that DVDs have over time. After all, at $2 a night, a try-before-you-buy approach seems more efficient when the average renter plays less than seven hours a week. I spend more time than that just building bread forts in Skyrim.
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