Amazon’s been steadily expanding the list of benefits you receive with a $99 Prime membership—two-day shipping, a library of music and movies to stream, the ability to “borrow” Kindle books—and today it added video games to the list. Sort of. Prime members now get 20 percent off video game preorders and new releases (a.k.a. purchases up to two weeks after launch).
The catch? The discount applies to physical games only. You know—the kind that come in boxes, with discs inside.
Given that the PC has largely switched over to digital retail codes, from Steam or Amazon or GOG.com or whoever, you may not have many opportunities to take advantage of Amazon’s generosity. Some publishers still put out physical PC discs, and most of those have Steam codes inside so you’ll still eventually end up in the same place as if you bought a digital copy to start—but you may have to do deal with the hassle of the postal system bringing your “release day” copy of the game at 8 p.m. or what-have-you.
Jennie Amazon’s discount only applies to physical games.
The biggest draw I see is that the 20 percent discount also applies to Collector’s Editions, like the Fallout 4 Pip-Boy Edition. Given how many people are fond of ordering those, and their inflated cost, 20 percent off starts sounding pretty good.
Other than that? Console games. Consoles games, console games, console games. It’s a market that still largely exists on discs, shipped out in little plastic cases. If you’ve got a PS4 or Xbox One sitting around, this deal is clearly a boon. One important note, via Amazon: “The offer does not apply to product bundles including but not limited to console game bundles.”
The discount is available to all Prime members starting today, and retroactively applies to any existing (unfulfilled) preorders. Going forward, the discount will show up when you go to check out.