Archive for November, 2007
GuildCafe and Uberguilds join forces
Today is an exciting day for us! The following is the announcement we put out on the wire today…
Uberguilds Merges with GuildCafe
Premier Network of Top Gaming Communities Joins Forces With GuildCafe to Create the Standard in Social Gaming Applications
CAMBRIDGE, MA, November 21, 2007 – GuildCafe Entertainment Inc., the developer of the GuildCafe.com social gaming platform, announced that it has completed the acquisition of Uberguilds, a network of high-profile gaming communities.
“We began working with Uberguilds earlier this year and became impressed with the enthusiasm of their community,” said Jon Radoff, CEO of GuildCafe. “The feedback from their players has been invaluable in improving our social gaming platform—and their participation will help us make our player recruiting, matchmaking and strategy-sharing applications the standard for the gaming world.”
Millions of people visit Uberguilds sites, which includes some of the most influential gaming organizations. The Uberguilds Network will form the foundation for the GuildCafe Alliance Program, which will enable independent websites to integrate with GuildCafe’s social gaming platform. John Findlay, the founder and CEO of the Uberguilds Network, will become the general manager for the new program. Guilds and website operators may learn more about the Alliance Program at: http://blog.gamerdna.com/alliance.php
About GuildCafe Entertainment Inc.
GuildCafe.com is a community that places players at the center of the online gaming universe. Players can express themselves through gaming alter-egos, publish their accomplishments, share expertise and organize gaming groups called guilds. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, GuildCafe is funded by IDG Ventures Boston and led by a team of online media and computer games veterans from Eprise, New York Times Digital, Electronic Arts and Mythic Entertainment. More information about is available at: http://blog.gamerdna.com.
Starting the GuildCafe Blog
First, let me answer the biggest question: why start a blog for GuildCafe?
First, it’s for our customers. One of the principles I want to imbue into GuildCafe is transparency. I think the best companies are those that align the interests of every type of customer, employee and investor. We’ll talk about new features here as well as our thoughts for the future—and share with you some of the thinking behind our business decisions. The voices you’ll hear on this blog will include not only me, but the people who are “in the trenches,” whether they’re writing code or designing pages or building our business strategy.
Second, I think the world of online gaming and the world of social media is a fascinating—and huge—intersection. The online gaming ecosystem includes technologies as diverse as the World of Warcraft Armory, Gamespy, OpenSocial, the Facebook F8 platform, Xbox Live, Vivox, and the numerous walled-garden social networks being created at number of videogame companies. As we continue to develop GuildCafe.com, we hope to offer some helpful insights and commentary on what these technologies mean to the game business.
Some of you probably have one other question about this: why not use GuildCafe’s built-in blogs?
It’s true. GuildCafe has its own blogging system. However, one thing we’ve learned that we’re not—and should never be in—the blogging business. We recently added a feature to GuildCafe that allows you to auto-import the headlines and content of outside blogs into profile pages, which was our tacit acceptance of the fact that many (or most?) blogs of interest to our community will come from outside the site. Over the coming months, we’re going to change the blogging system that’s built-in to GuildCafe to be simpler; more of a journal-system for keeping track of the fun things you’re doing within games, without all the clutter and complexity of the current system—we envision something somewhere between twitter and a real blog in terms of simplicity.
A lot of what our customer’s have used the GuildCafe blogging system for is to document the stories and experiences of games; take jonjonz’s blog as an example of someone who is using us to record the tales of their characters—or Shadow, who has shared lots of game reviews. We’d like to streamline the system to encourage our members to share these sort of stories and information, but do so in a way that’s easier, more structured, and more harmonious with the rest of the site. (And if you are keeping a blog on GuildCafe already—don’t sorry—your existing content will automatically become a part of whatever simpler system we end up with.)
NOTE: Because we used to store our press releases here using static HTML, we’ve backdated some blog entries for a few of the more recent releases.
The 2008 RAWR Cup
Following is the press release we put on the wire today, announcing the 2008 RAWR Cup, which we hope to be the first of many player-run events built atop GuildCafe.
Rebel Rising launches Guild Wars Tournament on GuildCafe
2008 RAWR Cup is the First in a New Era of Player-Run Events
CAMBRIDGE MA, November 13, 2007 – In the world of online gaming, tournaments and special events are not new–but until now, e-Sports organizers and game company representatives ran them. Events run by players and for players were a logistical nightmare. Using GuildCafe, players may now conveniently host their own gaming events with real-world prizes.
In a first-of-its-kind tournament, the Rebel Rising guild, better known as “Rawr” to their friends and opponents within the Guild Wars online game, is hosting a competition that will give away prizes and prestige to the best teams.
“We always wished for a tournament that was organized the way players really wanted,” explained Jackie Vu, co-founder of Rebel Rising. “We wanted a tournament that was more accessible, more convenient and structured so that players of all skill levels could have fun with it. GuildCafe is what made it possible.”
Unlike previous Guild Wars tournaments, the 2008 RAWR Cup is structured into three divisions. Winners in the top division, intended for professional-level players, will receive 22″ widescreen LCD monitors. Prizes in other divisions include computer hardware and gaming merchandise, as well as online prestige and recognition. Finally, ArenaNet (the creator of Guild Wars) will give reward points that can be redeemed for in-game prizes to the top-ranking teams.
“Gamers are hungry for the opportunity to have greater influence over the virtual worlds they join,” said Jon Radoff, CEO of GuildCafe Entertainment Inc. “We’re building a community where gamers can make the online gaming universe their own–a place they can join forces with other players, share hints and organize their own events–and preserve the memory of all the fun they’ve had.”
To register for the 2008 RAWR Cup, visit: http://www.guildcafe.com/tournament
About GuildCafe Entertainment Inc.
GuildCafe.com is a community that places players at the center of the online gaming universe. Players can express themselves through gaming alter-egos, publish their accomplishments, share expertise and organize gaming groups called guilds. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, GuildCafe is funded by IDG Ventures Boston and led by a team of online media and computer games veterans from Eprise, New York Times Digital, Electronic Arts and Mythic Entertainment. More information about is available at: http://blog.gamerdna.com.
