Redbox No Longer Renting Games

I'm not sure when the company decided to go this direction, but I'm okay with it. I'm a fan of Redbox. I miss the days of Blockbuster Video, and hell I worked at the Hollywood Video next to the radio station for over 2 years. So I love getting the DVD, taking it home and enjoying it. Yes, streaming is everywhere, but I get tired of buffering, or worst yet, my wife finding something "better" she wants to watch (I'm looking  at you Masked Singer). When I bring home a disc, boom, that's what we got. I've only rented games from Redbox, a handful of times. Mainly because, after you spend all the time installing and doing the game updates, it seems like a 3rd of your rental playtime is already gone (thanks Mortal Kombat 11). But last week as I was scouring Redbox.com, I noticed the game rental feature was gone, but now the only option is "Games To Own". I can only figure, the price per game (average $50) versus the wear and tear versus how much they are actually rented (roughly $2 a pop), I can see how continuing to rent and supply the games to the kiosks, might not be cost effective.

But, their loss could be your game... gain. The games are discounted quite a bit, especially some of the newer titles like Death Stranding (PS4), Gears 5 (Xbox One) & Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (both). $60 games, dropped by 20% to 60% depending on the title. I picked up a few, nice cheap stocking stuffers for Timmy's crusty foot wear. Now, if you're planning on buying these up, just to trade them in to a big game store like GameStop, they will not take them. Too many people have tried that in the past (me included) I guess. Other local trade in places, may hesitate to take them due to no box, and difficulties in displaying and reselling the game discs. But if it's a title you just have to have and you don't care about box art, this could be a cheap alternative.

On the sad side, when you think about how many people relied on RedBox for their ability to "try before you buy" with games, they are going to be hard pressed to find an alternative that doesn't deal with a monthly subscription fee. If you're excited to grab some games discounted, don't wait, the company did announce that they will only have games available to buy "through the end of the year", before they direct their efforts to solely movies.