Kongregate

Kongregate
Kongregate Logo
Type of site
 Online gaming website and/or social network
Owner Modern Times Group (2017-)
GameStop (2010-2017)
Revenue Advertising
In game currency ("Kreds")
Corporate sponsorship
Premium memberships(Kong+)
Website Kongregate.com
Alexa rank Increase 1,531 (March 2018)[1]
Commercial Yes
Registration Free, not required (however, some features are disabled); Paid membership optional
Launched October 10, 2006[2]

Kongregate is an American mobile, PC, and Console publisher and web gaming portal. The website features over 110,000 online games and 30+ mobile games available to the public. In 2010, it was purchased by Gamestop Corporation[3] and was then acquired by Modern Times Group MT AB in 2017.

The portfolio focuses on mid-core games spanning a wide range of genres. Kongregate is the home for several idle/clicker games, including Adventure Capitalist, Crusaders of the Lost Idols, and Anti-Idle: The Game.

On the web portal, users can upload Adobe Flash, HTML 5/JavaScript, Shockwave, Java or Unity games with integrated high scores and achievement badges.[4][5][6]

History

Kongregate was released on October 10, 2006 by siblings Emily and Jim Greer into an alpha testing phase, which lasted until December 2006.[7] During this time, game developers and players tested the site's interface and functionality. In December of the same year, the site was formally opened to the public.[4] The site formally entered the beta testing phase on March 22, 2007.[8][9] As of July 2008, Kongregate had raised around $9 million in capital from investments by Reid Hoffman, Jeff Clavier, Jeff Bezos, and Greylock Partners.

On July 23, 2010, GameStop announced an agreement to acquire Kongregate.[3][10] Because of Gamestop's purchase of Kongregate, developers who work through Kongregate can have their content promoted to people who shop at a GameStop store. Kongregate also provides a way for creators of games on Facebook to expand their potential audience.[11]

In early 2013, Kongregate announced a $10 million fund devoted to mobile gaming.[12] The new mobile division is led by former Zynga executive Pany Haritatos.[13] In 2014, the site introduced Kongpanions, acting as a trophy system and metagame in the form of small creatures, whether animals or personified objects. The Kongpanions that players collect can then be used in some games on the site.[14]

Kongregate announced plans in October 2016 to help developers bring their games to the Steam distribution platform with an updated software development kit to make it easy to port games between their web, mobile, and the Steam platforms (Windows, macOS, and Linux), and to support data sharing between these for players. This will enable games to take advantage of microtransactions through the Steam store for titles otherwise normally free-to-play.[15]

In 2016, Kongregate received Apple Editors' Choice for BattleHand and The Trail, and received Google Play Editors' Choice for Animation Throwdown and AdVenture Capitalist. BattleHand and The Trail also were voted as Best of 2016 by Apple, and Animation Throwdown and The Trail were voted Best of 2016 by Google Play.

On June 20, 2017, Kongregate announced it had closed a deal to be acquired by Swedish entertainment company Modern Times Group[16] for $55 million. This follows MTG’s recent purchase of 51% of Hamburg-based online game developer InnoGames in 2016 and 2017. Planned as part of the deal is a change in focus from hosting third-party games to driving game development as well. "[...]we’ll be deepening our investment in several areas, from marketing/marketing tech to platform engineering. We’re also going to be investing in first-party development and potential acquisitions of our own within the games space," said CEO Emily Greer.[17]

On October 5, 2017, Kongregate acquired Chicago-based Synapse Games, the developer of Animation Throwdown.[18]

Reference (other)

  1. ↑ "Kongregate.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  2. ↑ "Kongregate: a Next Generation Web Games Marketplace". techcrunch.com. 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
  3. 1 2 GameStop (2010-07-27). "GameStop Announces Agreement to Acquire Kongregate Inc". BusinessWire. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  4. 1 2 Baertlein, Lisa (2007-03-22). "New site aims to be the YouTube of gaming". Reuters Life!. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
  5. ↑ Kirkpatrick, Marshall (2006-10-19). "Kongregate: a Next Generation awesome site Web Games Marketplace". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Matt (2006-12-20). "Kongregate: Your Gatorade For Flash Games". Solution Watch. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  7. ↑ Greer, Jim (2006-09-01). "Gamers asking for Kongregate!". Jim on Web Games. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  8. ↑ Nicole, Kristen (2007-03-22). "Kongregate Announces Funding, Launches". Mashable Social Networking News. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  9. ↑ Marshall, Matt (2007-03-21). "Kongreroblox, the online social game hub". Venture Beat. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
  10. ↑ "Company Overview of Kongregate, Inc". Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Facebook Developers Page".
  12. ↑ "Kongregate Announces First Mobile Games". July 1, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Kongregate launches $10M mobile games fund". February 4, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Other Work". Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  15. ↑ Brightman, James (October 28, 2016). "Kongregate expands to Steam, "exploring opportunities" in premium". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
  16. ↑ "MTG buys GameStop's mobile game publisher Kongregate for $55 million". VentureBeat. 2017-06-20. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  17. ↑ ""More growth, more platforms, broader presence": Kongregate on its post-acquisition strategy". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  18. ↑ "Kongregate acquires Animation Throwdown and Spellstone developer Synpase Games". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
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