GamerDNA, the social network for video gamers that just 10 days ago announced a new name, a broader mission, and a new pot of venture money from Flybridge Capital Partners, is continuing its expansion streak. CEO Jon Radoff said today the company has acquired Chicago-based It Can Talk Inc., which owns an Xbox community website called 360voice.com.
It Can Talk’s staff actually started commuting to the Cambridge, MA, offices of GamerDNA (then called GuildCafe) in late March, but the acquisition wasn’t completed until last week. When Radoff told Xconomy that GamerDNA would offer an “autoblogging” service that tracks the game play of Xbox 360 users, he was talking in part about technology pioneered at 360voice.
Here’s how the company’s About page puts it: “Using unique technology, the data from your Xbox Live gamercard is transformed from a snapshot into a rich history of your gaming, told in blog format from the perspective of your Xbox. This allows for conversations around specific daily achievements and events like gamer score increases and your most played games. In addition to the blog content, users can interact by leaving comments, compete in gamer score challenges, and gather badges for various site and cross-game accomplishments.”
It Can Talk’s founders are relocating to Cambridge, and the company’s CEO, Trapper Markelz, will become GamerDNA’s vice president of products.
“With GamerDNA, we’re creating the platform for a gamer’s identity,” Markelz said in an announcement about the acquisition. “Using technology we created at 360voice.com, we’ll be feeding your achievements and experiences into a gaming history you can express throughout the Web.”
This is GamerDNA’s second acquisition. Last November it bought Uberguilds, which hosts guild sites and fansites related to various massively multiplayer online roleplaying games such as World of Warcraft.
