Kongregate

Kongregate is an American video game publisher and web gaming portal. The website features over 110,000 online games and 30+ mobile games available to the public, while also publishing games for PC and console. In 2010, it was purchased by Gamestop Corporation[2] and was then acquired by Modern Times Group MT AB in 2017.

Kongregate
Kongregate Logo
Type of site
Online gaming website and/or social network
OwnerModern Times Group (2017–)
GameStop (2010–2017)
RevenueAdvertising
In-game currency ("Kreds")
Corporate sponsorship
Premium memberships(Kong+)
URLKongregate.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationFree, not required (however, some features are disabled); Paid membership optional
LaunchedOctober 10, 2006[1]

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 could upload Adobe Flash, HTML 5/JavaScript, Shockwave, Java or Unity games with integrated high scores and achievement badges.[3][1][4]

History

Kongregate was released on October 10, 2006 by siblings Emily and Jim Greer into an alpha testing phase, which lasted until December 2006.[5] During this time, game developers and players tested the site's interface and functionality. The site formally entered the beta testing phase on March 22, 2007.[6][7] In December of the same year, the site was formally opened to the public.[3] As of July 2008, Kongregate had raised around $9 million in capital from investments by Reid Hoffman, Jeff Clavier, Jeff Bezos, and Greylock Partners.[8]

On July 23, 2010, GameStop announced an agreement to acquire Kongregate.[2] 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.[9]

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.[10]

Games publishing

In early 2013, Kongregate announced a $10 million fund devoted to mobile gaming,[11] and as part of this new program, the former Zynga executive Pany Haritatos was hired to oversee it.[12] The money was used to financially support free-to-play mobile game developers, by helping them test and market their games.[13] Some of the developers benefited by this fund included Synapse Games, RedPoint Labs and Making Fun, among a few others.[13]

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 enabled games to take advantage of microtransactions through the Steam store for titles otherwise normally free-to-play.[14]

In 2016, Kongregate received Apple Editors' Choice for BattleHand and The Trail,[15] 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]

On May 2, 2019, Kongregate announced that co-founder and CEO Emily Greer was leaving the company. She was replaced by COO Pany Haritatos as interim CEO.[19]

In December 2019, Kongregate acquired Surviv.io, a free-to-play online game.

On July 1, 2020, Kongregate announced the discontinuation of submissions as it prepared for the end-of-life for Adobe Flash Player by December 31, 2020, in which the software will be disabled in some browsers. Other features of the site such as the forums were also halted at the time as the Kongregate team worked on transitioning their internal titles to HTML5.[20]

Kartridge

In November 2018 Kongregate opened Kartridge, a digital storefront focusing on independent games.[21] The storefront is available via browser or desktop app and features both premium paid games and free browser based titles.[22] Unlike other storefronts such as Steam, Kartridge is a heavily curated store. Kongregate hopes this curation will help spotlight quality games and address discoverability issues indie games commonly face.[23] Another incentive offered to developers by the store is an increased revenue share for all games until they reach $10,000 in sales,[24] with games that are exclusive to it having a higher threshold of $40,000.[25]

Mobile apps

Kongregate has released 25 games for mobile devices that are available on the Google Play Store and the App Store. Their most downloaded apps include AdVenture Capitalist, Pocket Politics, and Star Trek Trexels.

References
  1. "Kongregate: a Next Generation Web Games Marketplace". techcrunch.com. 2006-10-19. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  2. GameStop (2010-07-27). "GameStop Announces Agreement to Acquire Kongregate Inc". BusinessWire. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  3. Baertlein, Lisa (2007-03-22). "New site aims to be the YouTube of gaming". Reuters Life!. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  4. Wilson, Matt (2006-12-20). "Kongregate: Your Gatorade For Flash Games". Solution Watch. Archived from the original on 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  5. Greer, Jim (2006-09-01). "Gamers asking for Kongregate!". Jim on Web Games. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  6. Nicole, Kristen (2007-03-22). "Kongregate Announces Funding, Launches". Mashable Social Networking News. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  7. Marshall, Matt (2007-03-21). "Kongregate, the online social game hub". Venture Beat. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  8. Schonfeld, Erick (2008-04-30). "Kongregate Gets $3 Million From Bezos: Growing Fast and About To Unleash Its Games on Facebook". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  9. "Kongregate Launch 101". Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  10. "Other Work". Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  11. Weber, Rachel. "Kongregate launches $10m fund for mobile developers". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  12. Costello, Steve (2013-02-14). "Kongregate launches $10M mobile games fund". Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  13. Weber, Rachel. "Kongregate names $10m mobile fund developers". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  14. Brightman, James (2016-10-28). "Kongregate expands to Steam, "exploring opportunities" in premium". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  15. Calimlim, Aldrin (2016-12-07). "Here are Apple's Best Apps and Games of 2016". AppAdvice. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  16. Takahashi, Dean (2017-06-20). "MTG buys GameStop's mobile game publisher Kongregate for $55 million". VentureBeat. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  17. Suckley, Matt (2017-06-21). ""More growth, more platforms, broader presence": Kongregate on its post-acquisition strategy". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  18. Cowley, Ric (2017-10-05). "Kongregate acquires Animation Throwdown and Spellstone developer Synpase Games". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
  19. Minotti, Mike (2019-05-02). "Kongregate CEO and cofounder Emily Greer is leaving the company". venturebeat.com. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  20. Carpenter, Nicole (July 2, 2020). "Kongregate is shifting away from Flash gaming". Polygon. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
  21. Tarason, Dominic. "Kongregate's new games store Kartridge is open for business". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  22. Chalk, Andy (November 2018). "Kongregate's digital storefront Kartridge is now open for everyone". PC Gamer.
  23. Conditt, Jessica. "Kartridge is a curated game store, now with more Indie Megabooth". Engadget.
  24. Chan, Stephanie (24 April 2018). "Kongregate announces revenue share details for its PC gaming platform Kartridge". VentureBeat. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  25. Handrahan, Matthew. "Kartridge offers developers 100% of revenue up to $10,000". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
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