Now on Sale at Amazon: Downloadable Xbox Live Games

Amazon has launched its own Xbox Live Store, becoming the first retailer to offer digital access codes for downloading Xbox Live games.

Online retailer Amazon.com is well-known for offering just anything and everything for sale through its extensive Web-based store: now, the company is propelling itself into the world of Xbox Live games with the launch of its Xbox Live Store beta, enabling customers to purchase (or make gifts of) Microsoft Points cards, Xbox Live subscription cards, and digital access codes for downloading Xbox Live games. Available titles include favorites like Castle Crashers and Braid, and the move makes Amazon the first retailer outside the Microsoft ecosystem to offer downloadable Xbox Live games for sale.

“PC gamers have enjoyed the convenience of digital downloads on Amazon.com for some time. Now Amazon.com and Microsoft are bringing that same level of convenience to platform gamers by expanding the reach of the Xbox Live digital platform to millions of Amazon customers,” said Amazon VP of video games and software Greg Hart, in a statement.

Customers can buy games, subscription cards, or Microsoft Point cards for themselves or as gifts. When buying a game, customers receive an Xbox Live code, which is retained in the customers “Your Games & Software” library so users can retrieve it at any time; customers can also email the code to themselves or a gift recipient. Once customers have the code, they can download the purchase via Xbox Live.

Although at first glance it might be difficult to see why customers might want to buy Xbox Live titles through Amazon rather than via Xbox Live directly, retaining purchases in a user’s account information is one reason. Amazon is also trying to enhance the buying experience by tying the Amazon Xbox Live Store into its personalization and recommendation system so users can learn about new games based on purchases made by similar customers.