Wednesday, 28 July 2010

US Retailer GameStop Acquires Browser Gaming Hub Kongregate



US games specialist GameStop, has acquired popular online browser gaming hub, Kongregate, which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the chain. GameStop CEO J. Paul Raines commented:
"Kongregate advances GameStop's digital strategy by providing a gaming platform for casual, mobile and browser games that can be promoted and played by our existing gamers. We welcome the Kongregate team to the GameStop family."
Kongregate co-founder Jim Greer added:
"Our company's unique DNA has given more than 8500 game developers the tools to make their games social, reach a huge audience and make money from over 30,000 innovative games."

"This includes access to virtual currency and robust community features such as leaderboards, player achievements, profiles, multiplayer, dedicated game forums, and a site-wide leveling system."
While intentions of the acquisition are yet to be revealed, it looks like a smart move by the leading games retailer to gain a strong foothold in the ever-growing free-to-play online market.

1 comment:

Browser Games said...

Kongregate acquired by GameStop? This is indeed a very smart move, but I wonder what does GameStop has in mind, specifically.

We all know that Google invested about 1 million in Zynga (Facebook developer of Farmville). Clearly, Google wants to create a whole new business, a very profitable one (ie. Google games). But for GameStop isn't clearly what the reasons behind this acquisition are.