AOL Gets Into the Game

AOL greatly improved its gaming content this week with the acquisition of GameDaily from Gigex. AOL will consolidate its AOL Games content under the GameDaily banner, with the content and editorial team from AOL Video Games moving over. Games.com, acquired by AOL from Atari in May, and the Weblogs Inc. blog Joystiq fill out the AOL Games network.

GameDaily, with its well established reputation on both the consumer and business side in video game circles, gives AOL immediate credibility in the space, Ralph Rivera, VP and general manager of AOL Games, said in an Q&A on GameDaily Biz the trade journal side of GameDaily.

“People know when you say GameDaily, you’re talking video games. If you say AOL Games, depending on who you talk to they might be thinking casual, card and board games versus Grand Theft Auto or Halo 2,” Rivera said. “So picking up GameDaily gave us a very well established and well defined brand that will encapsulate all of our video game activities.”