AOL Acquires GameDaily From Gigex.DULLES, Va. -- AOL Games Expands Audience by Acquiring Some of the Best Gaming Content on the Web AOL LLC announced today that it has acquired GameDaily (http://www.gamedaily.com), one of the Internet's leading independent video game publications, from Gigex, Inc. AOL's agreement with Gigex closed on August 10th, 2006. Financial terms were not disclosed. Founded in 1995 and based in San Francisco, CA, the privately-held Gigex serves the mainstream gaming audience with its GameDaily.com website, one of the top three most visited video gaming information destinations on the Web. In addition, the company reaches industry decision makers each day with the GameDaily Biz newsletter, the most widely read video game trade publication. As part of the agreement, AOL will acquire both the GameDaily consumer website (http://www.gamedaily.com) and the industry-leading newsletter, (http://Biz.GameDaily.com), which just received a "New First" award for its outstanding ongoing coverage of the video games industry by AEIM*. GameDaily will become the flagship video games brand within the AOL Games network, and will be united with content and community features currently found on the AOL Video Games website (http://www.aol.com/videogames). In addition, the AOL Video Games editorial team will be integrated into the GameDaily editorial staff to create the new GameDaily editorial team. The GameDaily Biz newsletter team will also operate under the newly combined AOL Video Games-GameDaily editorial team. Additionally, certain GameDaily content partnership agreements will be transitioned to AOL. "Video game sites have become a valuable resource for advertisers wishing to reach the young male audience, and GameDaily is a brand that resonates with these highly sought after consumers," said Ralph Rivera, Vice President and General Manager, AOL Games. "We look forward to continuing to serve this audience, maximizing GameDaily content with AOL's community features, and further expanding the AOL Games community." "Video games are now a vital piece of the entertainment landscape along with music, video and online communities," said Mark Friedler, CEO, Gigex, Inc. "We're thrilled to combine our experience delivering top-notch consumer content and leading business news with AOL's tremendous reach to provide a new level of innovative entertainment content to online consumers everywhere." In addition to GameDaily.com, the AOL Games network also includes AOL Games (http://www.aol.com/games), one of the Web's best destinations for casual and downloadable games from leading publishers; AOL Video Games (http://www.aol.com/videogames), gamers' leading online resource for video game news, previews, cheats and original programming such as the interactive Inside the Game feature; and the recently acquired Games.com, an extension of AOL Games' best-of-breed casual games available at one of the most popular URLs among Web users seeking games content. GameDaily is AOL's fourth announced acquisition of 2006, following the acquisition of Userplane last week, Lightningcast, Inc. in May, and Truveo, Inc. in January. Other recent corporate acquisitions by AOL include Music Now, LLC, Weblogs, Inc., Xdrive A third-party storage facility on the Internet from Xdrive, Inc., Santa Monica, CA (www.xdrive.com). Xdrive enables data to be stored and retrieved from any browser. Originally offering both free and paid services, the limited, free service was later dropped. There were several free Web storage sites introduced in the dot-com heyday that have gone by the wayside, including Freeway.com, Freedrive.com and MySpace.com., Inc. and Wildseed, Ltd. - all in 2005. About AOL Games AOL Games provides access to unique and exclusive high-speed and narrowband programming features for online, PC and console gamers, and provides more than 150 online and downloadable games. More than 13.3 million game fans visit the AOL Network for games each month**. About AOL AOL and its subsidiaries operate a leading network of Web brands and the largest Internet access subscription service in the United States. Web brands include the AOL.com(R) website, AOL(R) Pictures, AIM(R), MapQuest(R) and Netscape(R). AOL offers a range of digital services in the areas of education, safety and security, communications and music. The company also has operations in Europe and Canada. AOL LLC is a majority-owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX) and is based in Dulles, Virginia. About GameDaily GameDaily is the Internet's leading independent video game publication, serving the mainstream gaming audience and industry decision makers. GameDaily reaches the coveted demographic of consumers ages 18 to 34, with a reach of more than 4.5 million gamers each month through its flagship property and affiliated partners. The site delivers an innovative point of view on the multi-billion dollar interactive entertainment industry. The GameDaily Biz newsletter is the top video game trade publication read each morning by industry professionals and is available at (http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/subscribe). Gigex, Inc, was founded in 1995 and is privately held with offices in San Francisco and New York City. * Association of Electronic Interactive Marketers (AEIM) ** comScore Media Metrix, June 2006 |
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