Companies which rent out video games typically buy them directly from
the publishers. You would have to negotiate contracts with each
publisher separately. A short list of video game publishers includes:
Electronic Arts, Take Two Interactive, Activision, Eidos, Ubisoft,
LucasArts, THQ Interactive, Acclaim (ch.11).
The arrangements are usually structured as a discount to the typical
wholesale price + a portion of rental revenue -- however, each
publisher handles this differently. For example, a game that retails
for $49 will have a wholesale price of $39. Companies like
Blockbuster or Hollywood Video will buy these games at a discount to
$39 from the publisher, at say $25, and sometimes pay a portion of the
rental revenue on those games back to the publisher. This sort of a
model helps to decrease the risk of the video game renter as it
insulates them slightly when a game performs poorly in the market.
Some publishers own their own distribution channels, while others use
3rd party distributors. Take Two Interactive, for example, runs the
Jack Of All Games distribution business. Talk directly to each of the
publishers and they will let you know where you can source their
products from.
The industry standard for video game sales reports is NPD Funworld.
The reports are pricey, but this is the data that everyone else uses.
It is certainly invaluable data if you are trying to determine the
number of units you should carry for each game. I believe they cover
70% of the US retail market (they used to), but that may have changed.
http://www.npdfunworld.com/funServlet?nextpage=index.html
I am very familiar with this industry and can probably provide some
clarifications if necessary. |