BlueStacks Launches Free Subscription-based Android Console
The Bluestacks GamePop Mini aims to bring a Netflix-esque business model to the Android gaming console market and offers $250 worth of paid games.
The Bluestacks GamePop Mini aims to bring a Netflix-esque business model to the Android gaming console market and offers $250 worth of paid games.
Bluestacks has announced its second Android gaming console, the GamePop Mini, which comes to market with an interesting “forever free” business model whereby the device itself is free providing that the user signs up for at least one year of the company’s $6.99 GamePop mobile gaming service.
This “Netflixification of gaming” business model aims to disrupt traditional consoles and provides $250 worth of games via a curated group of “500 popular mobile games” from partners such as HalfBrick (Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride), Glu (Blood Brothers) and Intellijoy. The service also includes BlueStack’s proprietary “Looking Glass” technology that enables iOS titles to be played with “little work” from the original app developer.
“We have always planned on having a free console option,” said BlueStacks chief executive Rosen Sharma. “The biggest value of the GamePop service is its content – not the box. Hardware costs have come down so fast that we’re able to undercut the rest of the market. With the free promotion we’ve been doing in June, we’re already seeing a ton of adoption. That volume then attracts more developers and therefore more and better content. It’s building momentum.”
With regard to technical specifications, BlueStacks has only revealed that the GamePop Mini will run on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and feature “less rendering power” and “fewer ports” than the standard GamePop console.
The GamePop Mini is available for pre-order from BlueStack’s website with an expected release this winter. It will be interesting to see how this console fares in the increasingly crowded market for inexpensive Android-based gaming consoles.
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Tarun Iyer was a contributor for Tom's Hardware who wrote news covering a wide range of technology topics, including processors, graphics cards, cooling systems, and computer peripherals. He also covered tech trends such as the development of adaptive all-in-one PCs.
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ronch79 With their almost-non-existent marketing campaign to push this I can't imagine many people even knowing about this.Reply -
rwinches So, they got a deal on some old tech stuff, which will soon prove to be inadequate, but got you to subscribe, which you will then upgrade to the 'pro' version. AND.. $6.99 a month for internet access to $250 'worth' of games... Their video shows the pro console as free which is misleading. Still, this can mature into something fun, they have to start somewhere.Reply