MMO Life to launch a network of online game portals
Do you really have a fantasy life online if there’s no one there to chronicle it? MMO Life is launching a network of online gaming portals that will deliver news, reviews and lots of demos for massively multiplayer online games. Some of the coverage will be about fans living double lives inside virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online games.
The Amsterdam-based company has raised $1.3 million in funding from investors Klaas Kersting and Alexander Roesner, the founders of GameForge. Another investor is Pim Schmitz, former executive at Endemol. The company’s first portal, MMOhub.org, launched in late 2008 for North American teens. Others will go live in the coming months.
Simon Usiskin is chief executive of MMO Life, which will cater to both hardcore and beginner MMO gamers who play a wide variety of games including World of Warcraft. MMO Hub has a variety of community-oriented features, such as the top-rated MMOs where fans vote on their favorites. Starting a portal business like this makes sense since there are tens of millions of MMO players, many of whom eagerly await any tidbit of news about their favorite game or upcoming titles.
But there are competitors, including MMORPG.com, Massively, Virgin Worlds, and many others. MMO Life is well funded, but it’s late to the market. Usiskin said that news is only a part of what the company will offer. It will also feature videos, images, and reviews. The network of portals will focus on a variety of audiences. Target countries at first include the U.K., U.S., France, Germany and The Netherlands. The sites will be separaetly targeted at teens, tweens, or adults. The company currently has four people on staff and additional temporary workers.
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About the Author, Dean Takahashi
Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.