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While many users left because of the purchase, the site is still extremely popular with players of many major MMOs. |
While many users left because of the purchase, the site is still extremely popular with players of many major MMOs. |
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Affinity Media was the parent company of IGE, though the company no longer has any ownership stake. Affinity Media's senior vice president of business development John Maffei, noted that "we’re no longer in that business." <ref name="gamasutra1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14235|title=Q&A: Affinity's Maffei Talks IGE Sale, MMO Media Future|accessdate=2007-12-22|publisher=Gamasutra|year=2007}}</ref> Affinity retains control of Allakhazam.com, Thottbot.com, and has since purchased [[Wowhead]].com <ref name="gamasutra2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14451|title=Affinity's ZAM Network Acquires Wowhead, Confirms IGE Split |accessdate=2007-12-22|publisher=Gamasutra|year=2007}}</ref> |
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As of April 24th, 2007, however, IGE has since been sold by its current parent (Affinity Media), according to reports on Allakhazam.com.{{fact|date=November 2007}} |
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==Games available== |
==Games available== |
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Revision as of 01:29, 23 December 2007
- For the antibody, see Immunoglobulin E (IgE).
IGE (Internet Gaming Entertainment) is the largest MMORPG services company world-wide, with offices in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Miami. IGE is one of the main players in virtual economy services, also known in the MMORPG industry as secondary market. Members of the gaming community are often critical of IGE, as its services may allow players to break the rules of online games[1].
The co-founders of IGE are Brock Pierce, a former child movie star [2], and Alan Debonneville. Pierce was also the co-founder of the controversial failed dot-com Digital Entertainment Network (DEN)[3]. Media reports claim that Marc Collins-Rector is a silent partner in IGE[4][5]. IGE initially used an address in the city of Marbella, Spain, where Collins-Rector, Shackely, and Pierce shared a villa until it was raided by Interpol in 2002[6][7]
In January 2004, IGE acquired its major competitor, Yantis Enterprises, run by another controversial secondary market figure, Jonathan Yantis [8] for an undisclosed sum. IGE's parent company, RPG Holdings purchased Allakhazam.com in November 2005[9] and was announced in May 2006[10]. Allakhazam is a popular MMORPG community site for a wide variety of games that IGE's services cater for; however, the site continues to pride itself on not supporting the trade of virtual currencies in the real economy, typically breaking and/or removing any links to sites (including IGE) that perform such trades. This marks the further expansion of this company's presence in online gaming communities. This purchase followed that of ThottBot.com.
While many users left because of the purchase, the site is still extremely popular with players of many major MMOs.
Affinity Media was the parent company of IGE, though the company no longer has any ownership stake. Affinity Media's senior vice president of business development John Maffei, noted that "we’re no longer in that business." [11] Affinity retains control of Allakhazam.com, Thottbot.com, and has since purchased Wowhead.com [12]
Games available
Despite the practice being outlawed in most games, as of May 9, 2007, IGE sells in-game items, money, and accounts for the following:
- Anarchy Online
- Auto Assault
- City of Heroes
- Dark Age of Camelot
- Dungeons & Dragons Online
- Eve Online
- Everquest
- Everquest II
- Final Fantasy XI
- Guild Wars
- Lineage II
- Lord of the Rings Online
- RF Online
- Star Wars Galaxies
- Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
- World of Warcraft
References
- ^ http://www.gamewatchers.net/displayarticle.php?article=148
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0682302/
- ^ http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_46/b3655182.htm
- ^ "radar.com". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "anarchopedia.com". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "vnu.com". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "nypost.com". Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ http://www.ige.com/corporate.aspx?id=press&lang=en
- ^ (May 4, 2006).IGE Acquiring MMOG Sites. CorpNews.com. URL accessed 5-8-06.
- ^ (May 3, 2006).Announcing Zam.com) Allakhazam.com. URL accessed 5-8-06.
- ^ "Q&A: Affinity's Maffei Talks IGE Sale, MMO Media Future". Gamasutra. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-22.
- ^ "Affinity's ZAM Network Acquires Wowhead, Confirms IGE Split". Gamasutra. 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-22.