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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999; 26 years ago (1999) |
| Defunct | February 21, 2013 (2013-02-21) |
| Fate | GameSpy Industries acquired byGlu Mobile, site acquired byZiff Davis and shut down[1] |
Key people | Mark Surfas (CEO) |
| Owner | IGN Entertainment |
| Website | gamespy.com |
GameSpy was an American provider ofonline multiplayer andmatchmakingmiddleware forvideo games founded in 1995 by Mark Surfas.[2] After the release of a multiplayer server browser forQuake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameSpy brand to other video game publishers through a newly established company,GameSpy Industries, which also incorporated his Planet Network of video game news and information websites, and GameSpy.com.
GameSpy merged withIGN in 2004;[3][4] by 2014, its services had been used by over 800 video game publishers and developers since its launch.[5] In August 2012, the GameSpy Industries division (which remained responsible for the GameSpy service) was acquired by mobile video game developerGlu Mobile. IGN (then owned byNews Corporation) retained ownership of the GameSpy.com website. In February 2013, IGN's new owner,Ziff Davis, shut down IGN's "secondary" sites, including GameSpy's network. This was followed by the announcement in April 2014 that GameSpy's service platform would be shut down on May 31, 2014.[6][7]
The 1996 release ofid Software's video gameQuake, one of the first 3D multiplayer action games to allow play over theInternet, furthered the concept of players creating and releasing "mods" or modifications of games. Mark Surfas saw the need for hosting and distribution of these mods and created PlanetQuake, aQuake-related hosting and news site.[8][9] The massive success of mods catapulted PlanetQuake to huge traffic and a central position in the burgeoning game website scene.
Quake also marked the beginning of the Internetmultiplayer real-time action game scene. However, finding aQuakeserver on the Internet proved difficult, as players could only share IP addresses of known servers between themselves or post them on websites. To solve this problem, a team of three programmers (consisting of Joe "QSpy" Powell, Tim Cook, and Jack "morbid" Matthews) formed Spy Software and created QSpy (or QuakeSpy). This allowed the listing and searching of Quake servers available across the Internet. Surfas licensed QSpy and became the official distributor and marketer while retaining the original programming team. QSpy became QuakeSpy and went on to be bundled with itsQuakeWorld update – an unprecedented move by a top tier developer and huge validation for QuakeSpy. With the release of theQuake engine-based gameHexen II, QuakeSpy added this game to its capabilities and was renamed GameSpy3D. In 1997 Mark Surfas licensed GameSpy 3D from Spy Software, and created GameSpy Industries.
In 1999, GameSpy receivedangel investment funding from entrepreneur David Berkus. The company released MP3Spy.com (later renamed RadioSpy.com), a software browser allowing people to browse and connect to online radio feeds, such as those usingNullsoft'sShoutCast. GameSpy received $3 million in additional funding from theYucaipa Companies, an investment group headed byHollywood agentMichael Ovitz andSouthern California supermarket billionaireRonald Burkle.
The expanding of the company's websites included the games portal, GameSpy.com, created in October 1999;[10] the Planet Network (also known as the GameSpy Network), a collection of "Planet" websites devoted to popular video games (such as Planet Quake,Planet Half-Life and Planet Unreal) as well as thegenre-related websites, 3DActionPlanet, RPGPlanet, SportPlanet and StrategyPlanet; ForumPlanet, the network's extensive message board system; and FilePlanet, which was one of the largest video game file download sites. It also includedplatform-specific sites (e.g., Planet PS2, Planet Xbox, Planet Nintendo and Planet Dreamcast), but these were consolidated into GameSpy.com; only Classic Gaming remains separate. ForumPlanet and FilePlanet were services offered by GameSpy, and were not part of the Planet Network.
In 2000, GameSpy received additional investment funding from theZiff Davis publishing divisionZDNet.com and from Guillemot Corporation. GameSpy shut down its RadioSpy division, backing away from the online music market which was dominated bypeer-to-peer applications such asNapster andGnutella. In 2001, GameSpy's corporate technology business grew to includesoftware development kits andmiddleware for video game consoles, such as Sony'sPlayStation 2, Sega'sDreamcast and Microsoft'sXbox. In March 2007,IGN and GameSpy Industries merged, and was briefly known as IGN/GameSpy before formalizing their corporate name as IGN Entertainment.[11]
Also in 2000, GameSpy turned GameSpy3D intoGameSpy Arcade and purchasedRogerWilco,MPlayer.com and various assets from HearMe; the MPlayer service was shut down and the RogerWilco technology is improved and incorporated into GameSpy Arcade. GameSpy Arcade was the company's flagship matchmaking software, allowing users to find servers for different online video games (whether they be free or purchased) and connect the user to game servers of that game. GameSpy also published theRoger Wilco voice chat software, primarily meant for communication and co-ordination in team-oriented games, where users join a server to chat with other users on the server using voice communication. This software rivaled the other major voice chat softwareVentrilo andTeamspeak. The company's "Powered by GameSpy" technology enabled online functionality in over 300 PC and console games.[12] In 2005, GameSpy added thePlayStation Portable, andNintendo DS[12] to its stable supported platforms. In March 2007, GameSpy added theWii as another supported platform.[9]
GameSpy Industries (the entity responsible for GameSpy multiplayer services) was bought from IGN Entertainment by Glu Mobile in August 2012,[13] and proceeded in December to raise integration costs and shut down servers for many older games, includingFairytale Fights,Star Wars: Battlefront,Sniper Elite,Microsoft Flight Simulator X,Saints Row 2, andNeverwinter Nights, with no warning to developers or players, much to the outrage of communities of those games.[14] GameSpy Technologies remained operational as a separate entity since.[15] In February 2013, following the acquisition of IGN Entertainment byZiff Davis, IGN's "secondary" sites were shut down, ending GameSpy's editorial operations.[1][11]
In April 2014, Glu announced that it would shut down the GameSpy servers on May 31, 2014, so its developers could focus on work for Glu's own services. Games that still used GameSpy are no longer able to offer online functionality or multiplayer services through GameSpy. While some publishers announced plans to migrate GameSpy-equipped games to other platforms (such asSteam or in-house servers), some publishers, such asNintendo (who used the GameSpy servers as the basis of itsNintendo Wi-Fi Connection platform for DS and Wii games) did not, particularly due to the age of the affected games.[5][16][17]Electronic Arts, in particular, announced 24 PC games, including titles such asBattlefield 2, theCrysis series,Saints Row 2 and theStar Wars: Battlefront series, would be affected by the end of GameSpy service.[18]
Fan-createdmods restored online functionality with alternative servers. One such mod for the PC version ofHalo was officially incorporated into a patch for the game released byBungie in May 2014, andDisney helped developers create a similar mod forBattlefront II (2005) in 2017.[19] 10 days prior to theNintendo Wi-Fi Connection shutdown, a fan continuation of the project was created named Wiimmfi. By contrast, in 2017, Electronic Arts demanded the takedown of modified versions ofBattlefield 2 andBattlefield 2142 on alternate servers, distributed by a group known as "Revive Network", as infringement of their copyrights.[20][21][22]
| The GameSpy Debriefings | |
|---|---|
| Presentation | |
| Hosted by | Anthony Gallegos, Ryan Scott (previous host: Patrick Joynt) |
| Genre | Video games, comedy |
| Language | English |
| Updates | Fridays |
| Length | 50–60 minutes |
| Production | |
| Audio format | MP3 |
| No. of episodes | 170[1] |
| Publication | |
| Original release | May 11, 2007 – July 30, 2011 |
| Provider | GameSpy |
| Related | |
| Website | http://www.gamespy.com/  |
The GameSpy Debriefings was a party-style discussion between editors of GameSpy and IGN Entertainment on (purportedly) that week's gaming news.[23]The GameSpy Debriefings was the 25th most popular podcast under the category "Games and Hobbies" oniTunes (as of May 1, 2011). It was however infamous for the crew's frequent propensity to de-rail the conversation from video games into explicit content or in-depth discussions aboutnerd culture.
The main crew at the show's conclusion ofThe GameSpy Debriefings consisted of:
Frequent guests included:
On July 30, 2011,The GameSpy Debriefings ended with an episode consisting of only the main crew. Following its conclusion, they launched a fundraising drive onKickstarter which resulted in the release of their own popular podcast,The Comedy Button.[24]The Comedy Button is similar in content to the laterGameSpy Debriefings, with a renewed focus on humorous discussions and listener e-mails rather than the in-depth discussion of recent video games like the earlyDebriefings.
As of 2023,[update]The Comedy Button ended with 550 episodes being produced.[25][26]