How RDR, and other games, are distributed.

1. Distribution
How RDR was distributed around the
world

2. .Amazon Website shops Shops
.Ebay
.Game
.Game
.Gamestation
.Gamestop
.Tesco
How Does where it can be bought .ASDA
impact the price? .Morrisons
Ditan, the company that distributes
.HMV
RDR, have to make the game quite Where is it available from?
expensive (Usually around £40) in order to .Blockbusters
facilitate for distributing it all over the
world. In York alone there is 10 different
places you can purchase the game, in order
to distribute to the multitude of these Red Dead Redemption
places, Ditan has to spend a lot of money
on shipping, packing, storing etc...
Therefore, it was imperative (And is for any Global, it’s available to
major game) for RDR to gain lots of buy all over the world
money, to pay for the price of
marketing, distributing and developing the
game. This is why it had such a giant Downloads
marketing campaign, it was a gamble as it
costs lots of money to advertise, but if it
raises the profile of the game the
companies involved in RDR gain a profit. DLCs for the game
It’s easier for Ditan to distribute a game that
only uses one format. RDR is only available in
two formats; DVD/CD for Xbox and the smaller In said shops
CD for PS3. This technological convergence
.Xbox Marketplace
makes it easier for Ditan to distribute as they Digital
don’t have to buy as many copies, therefore Physical copy .PS3 Store
making the game cheaper.

3. The rise in popularity of Steam has
made it so many people don’t have
to buy physical games, they only
Shops on high-street have to download them onto their
They sell the game itself for full
Downloading onto computer computer.
price, but recently buying pre- However you need a really good
owned games has become more computer, with lots of storage in
popular. Buyers only need to go order to play these games.
into the shop to buy a game pre-
owned and get it for almost half
the price. Game developers
don’t like this as it gets them a Website shops
lot less money, so some games
have implemented systems that Game distribution in general Websites (And physical shops)
mean you can’t play online or often offer pre-order bonuses. As
use special downloadable it’s easier to pre-order a game on
content if you bought it pre- the internet this makes it so more
owned. For example, in Batman: gamers pre-order off the
Arkham City, the Cat-woman internet. The website itself gets
skin was only available for those Icloud more money as you are buying
who bought the game at full the game at full price and the
price. gamer gets extra content.
Streams games, no need to
buy a physical copy not
download onto your
computer
Makes it easier (If you have good internet
connection) to buy/use games. You can rent a Cuts out the middleman, which can
game, and if it’s good you can buy it. Also no be good, but it can force game shops
computer storage is taken up, but you need to go under administration as no one
an excellent internet connection in order to buys from them anymore.
enjoy the game

4. Take-Two Interactive distribution
Since 2008, T2 Games entered an outsourcing
agreement with Ditan Distribution LLC. This company
does all the distribution for T2, they are in charge of
price, packing, storage and shipping of all games
they make.
This distribution job was previously done by a
company called Jack Of All Games, they were a
subsidiary of T2 Games.
What was RDR’s release date?
Red Dead Redemption had a staggered release date,
that is, it was released at different dates in different
places. In the USA it was released May 18, Europe
May 21.
The USA is the main consumer of video-games,
probably one reason why it was released there first.
But also, since the game is made in the USA, and the
distribution company is set there, it’s also quicker to
distribute locally, so it was released in USA first
because it’s quicker than getting it to the rest of
Europe.

5. How has non-physical copies of games affected distribution for retailers?
With an increasing number of people downloading or
streaming games this severely affects the normal high
street distributor.
An advantage of downloads/streaming is that it’s
cheaper for the consumer, easier for the producer to
distribute and easier for the consumer to buy the game.
Not needing a physical copy means that you can’t break
or lose the game, which is also good.
However, cutting out the middle-man isn’t so good, as it
puts them into financial trouble. “Game” recently came
under administration, one reason for this was the use of
online shops. Another reason is that it’s easier for the
consumer to buy the game in their supermarket.