User:Jacoplane/GuildCafe

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GuildCafe
Type Private
Founded September 21, 2006
Headquarters Cambridge, Massachusetts
Key people Jon Radoff
Industry Computer and video game industry
Website http://www.guildcafe.com/

GuildCafe Entertainment, Inc. is a social network and video game developer founded on September 21, 2006 by Jon Radoff. The company was originally formed under the name SparkForge.[1][2] Radoff previously developed Legends of Future Past, one of the earliest commercial MMORPGs. [1]

Contents

[edit] Background

The company was originally formed to create games and platform technologies for "massively scalable online games", where "players will have the choice of using company-sponsored servers, or guilds will be able to setup and run their own customized gaming sites".[3] On November 28, 2006, the company changed its name to GuildCafe Entertainment Inc. The company has stated that its intention is to create a platform for "Gaming 2.0 Platform" built around current Web technologies, and that the first step toward this is creating a social network for those who play online games.[4]

[edit] Social Network for Online Gamers

On December 4, 2006, the company announced a social network that has been compared to a Facebook and MySpace for online game players[5] [6] Some industry analysts have observed that social networks for online games such as GuildCafe are part of a new trend in which major MMORPG products are spawning secondary industries.[7]

Like other social networks, the service allows members to form social connections with other members, and traverse the database of member profiles by these social connections or by user-defined tag clouds. However, the member profiles are geared toward the alter-egos that people play as within online games,[8] and supports the storage of game histories, guild/clan memberships, scores and profiles, and screenshots of game accomplishments. These features allow players to maintain social contact with each other as they grow beyond individual games, guilds or servers. The service also allows members to form groups oriented around their gaming guilds and clans, including features for event scheduling, roster management and private communication.[9]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Jason Dobson. "Online Company SparkForge Formed, Coins 'MSOGs'", Gamasutra, September 22, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  2. ^ "SparkForge Entertainment renamed to GuildCafe Entertainment Inc.", GuildCafe, December 5, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  3. ^ "SparkForge Formed", Gamers.com, September 21, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  4. ^ Kris Graft. "New GuildCafe Stresses User-Created Content", Next Generation, December 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  5. ^ Steven Wong. "SystemAddict: Digital Identity", GameDaily, December 22, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  6. ^ Derek Boiko-Weyrauch. "GuildCafe introduces social networking to the world of online gaming", Monsters and Critics, December 4, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  7. ^ Brady Forrest. "WoW and Cottage Industries", O'Reilly Radar, December 04, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 
  8. ^ Gamasutra, Jan. 17, 2006, "Q&A: GuildCafe's Jon Radoff On MMO Community," http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12425
  9. ^ Jex H. "GuildCafe now serving home pages and RSS feeds", QJ.NET, December 18, 2006. Retrieved on 2007-01-04. 

[edit] External links

Category:Companies based in Massachusetts Category:2006 establishments Category:Online social networking Category:Virtual communities Category:Video game companies