Amazon no longer selling XBLA download codes

by: Dan - posted: 8/22/2010 3:52:00 PM

A couple of sites caught wind of this the last few days (most notably our buddy Steve at PlatformNation and the folks over at IronStarMovement), so I decided to take a look for myself. After perusing several XBLA titles that Amazon used to sell downloadable codes for, the consensus is that they currently are no longer offering this service. Xbox Live Points cards continue to be sold, but game codes are not. Check out the image below, where the box with the pretty exclamation point declares:

“We are no longer selling Xbox LIVE arcade game codes on Amazon.com. Customers can continue to purchase Xbox LIVE points on Amazon.com and those points can be redeemed through their Xbox consoles to purchase any of the games that were previously available. Click HERE to purchase Xbox LIVE points.”

There has been some speculation as to why, but in these situations it usually boils down to profitability or some sort of contract issue. At this point, I wonder if there is a contract issue, because Amazon first started selling the XBL Arcade titles in April of 2009 and the entire Xbox Live section (with the arcade games) is still intact despite the message below. Regardless, I am sure we will find out more on this tomorrow when official spokespersons for Amazon and Microsoft will be available.