Gametap

Rerouting the ‘Tap

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Sorry to be a bit late in posting, but there is some important news in Gametap land. The service is being acquired by European company Metaboli, which offers a Gametap style service exclusive to Europe. The deal lays it down like so: both services will keep their names in their respective regions, and Gametap will still be maintained in Atlanta, but Time Warner will step down by year’s end and Metaboli will be in complete control of business decisions and management.

We have known since August that Time Warner has been looking to sell Gametap, so this does not come as a surprise. The question now is whether this will cause any major changes, for good or bad. For instance, price changes have been on the minds of many people on the ‘tap forums. Gametap’s system is fairly simple – it offers a few free games via web browser and the official client, while a $10 monthly fee nets you all the games. →  Ask not for whom the game plays, it plays for thee.

Gametap tightens the faucet

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As reported by Game|Life, Gametap’s editorial website and video content is getting axed less than a year after it was started.

I have voiced worries about Gametap in the past, and this is another bad piece of news. The problem the service has is that it seems to be run by individuals who know what the hell they are doing. This brings a level of knowledge and communication with users that you would not expect from a branch of Time Warner. Of course, this makes Gametap stand out like a sore thumb, which is bad when it comes time to knock out anything unrelated to the bottom line.

In any case, losing the editorial section likely has nothing to do with the fate of the service itself, but it still makes me worry. I can’t tell if Gametap has been any sort of profitable venture, and this closing comes at a time when the service has had horrible weekly updates for most of the year, aside from Sam and Max episodes. →  [send private information]