GameFly responds to PlayStation Now rental service

Leading by-mail game rental service GameFly has responded to the PlayStation Now streaming service Sony announced today, through which users will be able to rent various back-catalog PlayStation titles.

"The PlayStation Now service is too new for us to understand potential impacts and therefore we have no comment," a representative for the company told GameSpot today.

PlayStation Now would conceivably hurt GameFly's business if enough users decide to stream back-catalog titles like The Last of Us or Beyond: Two Souls instead of renting from GameFly.

GameFly is not a rental-only company, as the outfit also operates a digital PC marketplace through which it sells a variety of newly released games.

Immediately after PlayStation Now's announcement today, GameStop shares plummeted, as investors likely saw the news as potentially detrimental to the company's business. Importantly, however, it's still very early days. Whatever effect PlayStation Now has on the industry at large, including established companies like GameFly and GameStop, remains to be seen.

PlayStation Now runs on technology from Gaikai, the streaming service provider Sony purchased in 2012 for $380 million. A beta for the service will launch at the end of the month before a public rollout in the US this summer. You'll be able to rent games on a title-by-title basis or as part of a wider subscription package.