Amazon Prime Adds 20% Off Video Game Pre-Orders, New Releases

Amazon has done a lot to make its Prime subscription attractive, but Amazon’s most recent addition to Prime’s stable of benefits might mark its smartest move yet.

An Amazon Prime subscription now gets you 20 percent off video game pre-orders and new releases (within two weeks of a game’s launch). While the Amazon Prime savings only applies to physical copies, does not apply to console bundles and is currently restricted to the U.S. site (more info at Amazon’s FAQ here ), this move puts Amazon Prime in direct competition with the Best Buy Gamers Club and GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards Pro initiative.

The Best Buy Gamers Club dropped its price last March from $99 to $30 for two years of membership. Membership in the Best Buy Gamers Club gives you 20% off of physical retail games, 10 percent off of used games, a 10 percent trade-in bonus on games you sell back, and twice as many My Best Buy points purchases of new games, digital games, and gaming accessories. Amazon Prime’s 20 percent off is only for new physical video game releases and pre-orders.

While the benefits of the Best Buy Gamers Club are more numerous to gaming interests than Amazon Prime’s singular 20 percent off new games and pre-orders, Amazon Prime’s extensive list of benefits goes way beyond gaming. Prime Video is getting lots of attention lately with the two Golden Globes netted by Amazon’s series Mozart in the Jungle, while it's Prime Music is a sturdy Spotify alternative and its Prime Photos service offers unlimited storage. On top of that, Amazon Prime members get free two-day shipping on most orders in Amazon’s vast, vast warehouse of goodies (including, of course, gaming accessories also). The only real downside is a $99 annual fee.

While Prime subscribers already had free launch-day delivery on their video game pre-orders, this 20 percent off addition definitely sweetens the pot for gamers and provides a reason to take a second glance at Amazon Prime. And if you already have an Amazon Prime subscription, there’s now little point to the Best Buy Gamers Club unless you’re big into Best Buy, gaming accessories, digital games, or used games.

What Amazon Prime doesn’t do for you that GameStop’s Power Up Pro and Best Buy Gamers Club both can? Help you get some value for your traded-in old games. At $14.99 per year, the GameStop Power Up Pro list of benefits includes points for selling back games, for buying games, for going Pro or renewing your Pro membership, 10 percent bonus points over Power Up Rewards Basic, and even a 12 month subscription to Game Informer magazine tossed in gratis. But this serious incursion into the gaming space may make GameStop and Best Buy sweat to offer better deals -- something that can only benefit gamers’ wallets.

Unless you’re a PC gamer, in which case, you scarcely need this to continue gaming as usual.

PS. This discount applies to currently existing pre-orders, so there’s no need to cancel and place your pre-order again to receive your savings. Pretty sweet.