GamesBeat

Diving into a crowded field that mixes social networking with games, Pixelmatic Entertainment today launched Gamerbook, an app aimed at connecting gamers on Facebook.

The company is presumably banking on the notion that no single company has nailed how to get gamers to join and participate in a social network outside of the online games they play together.

The Vancouver, Canada-based company said the app lets users create profiles for different games that show their nicknames, the servers they played on, the game clans or factions they belong to, and the time they played the last game.

Gamerbook users can search through this data to find people they have played with in the past but knew only by a nickname. It lets gamers notify friends about what they are currently playing.

There are other companies trying to establish similar gamer networks, such as Raptr, MyGameMug, GamerDNA, Vigster, GameStrata, Ugame, and Rupture, which was acquired by Electronic Arts. Raptr raised $12 million and is headed by former pro gamer Dennis Fong, while Rupture was headed by Napster co-founder Shawn Fanning.

Gamerbook tries to make itself look and feel like a native Facebook app, or one that is embedded within the social network, said Samson Mow, founder and director of Pixelmatic Entertainment. By contrast, Raptr has set up its own app that can integrate with a variety of social networks.

Gamerbook is the company’s first Facebook app, and it plans to add features over time. The company was formed last year with a team of people who formerly worked at big game companies Activision Blizzard, THQ, and Electronic Arts.

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Tags: co:pixelmatic-entertainment