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GameSpy
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GameSpy, also known as GameSpy Industries, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game Web sites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current company is headquartered in Irvine, California. It is currently controlled by News Corporation, the 92.3% shareholder of its parent company, IGN - which was bought for $650 million on September 8, 2005.
GameSpy includes coverage for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, N-Gage, Wireless, PC, and Retrogaming.
Origins
In 1996, Quake marked the beginning of the internet multiplayer real-time action game scene. However, finding a Quake server on the internet proved difficult. Gamers could only share IP addresses of known servers between themselves or post them on gaming websites. To solve this problem, a team of three programmers formed Spy Software (consisting of Jack "morbid" Mathews, Tim Cook, and Joe Powell) and created QSpy (or QuakeSpy). This allowed the listing and searching of Quake servers available across the internet.
Following the success of Quake, additional internet multiplayer-capable games were soon released. Spy Software rebranded QSpy to GameSpy, while adding functionality for newer titles. The name of the GameSpy software was later changed to GameSpy3D, during the commercialization of the grassroots software project.
The original QSpy program borrowed the "spy agent" theme from Microsoft's Spy++, a Windows development debugging tool. Spy++'s executable icon can be seen as the inspiration for the QSpy tool. The "spy agent" theme continues to the present day through the GameSpy logo and its network of websites.
According to the GameSpy3D website as of March 2006, the three original programmers still remain members of the core GameSpy3D programming team.
Present Operations
Currently, the company's Web sites include the gaming portal, GameSpy.com, released in 1999; many of the "Planet" Web sites devoted to popular video games (such as PlanetQuake,
Planet Half-Life and Planet Unreal;
ForumPlanet, the network's extensive message board system; and
FilePlanet, arguably the largest video game file download site on the Web. GameSpy also offers online matchmaking and community software, such as
GameSpy Arcade and
GameSpy 3D, as well as software development kits (
SDKs), middleware and back-end online services for game developers and publishers.
GameSpy Arcade is the company's flagship matchmaking software, allowing users to find servers for different online video games (whether they be free or purchased) and connect the user to game servers of that game. GameSpy also publishes the Roger Wilco voice chat software, primarily meant for communication and co-ordination in team-oriented games, where users join a server to chat with other users on the server using voice communication. This software rivals the other major voice chat software Ventrilo and Teamspeak.
The company's "Powered by GameSpy" technology has enabled online functionality in over 300 PC and PlayStation 2 games. In 2005 GameSpy added the PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS to its stable supported platforms. In March 2007, Gamespy added the Wii as another supported platform and will help get some of its games online.
In March 2004, IGN Entertainment and GameSpy Industries merged, and was briefly known as IGN/GameSpy before formalizing their corporate name as IGN Entertainment. GameSpy and IGN still operate their own separate sites with different editorial content.
Links
www.gamespot.com
Corporate History
- 1996, Quake is released, as one of the first 3D multiplayer action games to allow play over the internet.
- 1996, Jack Mathews, Tim Cook, and Joe Powell form Spy Software and create QSpy to allow easy searching of internet-based multiplayer Quake game servers. The software was soon updated to include games other than Quake, and renamed from QSpy to GameSpy.
- 1997, Corporate strategist Mark Surfas licensed GameSpy 3D from Spy Software, and creates GameSpy Industries.
- 1999, GameSpy receives angel investment funding from entrepreneur David Berkus. The company also releases MP3Spy.com (later renamed RadioSpy.com), a software browser allowing people to browse and connect to online radio feeds, such as those using Nullsoft's SHOUTcast. GameSpy receives $3 million in additional funding from the Yucaipa Companies, an investment group headed by Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz and Southern California supermarket billionaire Ronald Burkle. GameSpy quickly reached profitability.
- 2000, GameSpy receives additional investment funding from the Ziff-Davis publishing division ZDNet.com and from Guillemot Corp. GameSpy shuts down its RadioSpy division, backing away from an online music market dominated by peer-to-peer applications such as Napster and Gnutella. GameSpy releases GameSpy Arcade.
- December 2000, GameSpy purchases Roger Wilco, MPlayer.com and various assets from HearMe, Inc. While the MPlayer service is shut down, the RogerWilco technology is improved and incorporated into GameSpy Arcade.
- 2001, GameSpy's corporate technology business grows to include SDKs and middleware for video game consoles, such as Sony's PlayStation 2, Sega's Dreamcast and Microsoft's Xbox.
- July 2001 Gamespy voted Doom the "#1 game of all time" in a poll among over 100 game developers and journalists[1].
- March 2004, acquired by IGN Entertainment.
- February-April 2004, "Title Fight", a series of polls to choose the best game of all time (similar to the GameFAQs character battles). Half-Life won, beating Super Mario Bros. 3 in the finals[2].
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