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IGN jumps on the modding bandwagon

by: Sean Colleli -
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Not content to let the Mod Database have all the attention, media site IGN has opened its own mod site, complete with tools and services.  Modcenter has a lot of resources open to modders, including a wiki and bug-trackers, so it should offer a decent alternative to the forums and communities already out there.  The whole thing bothers me though.  IGN Gamespy is so heavily commercialized, I'm afraid Modcenter might pollute the indie/underground appeal of modding.  If I have to use Fileplanet to distribute or download mods, count me out.

IGN ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF MODCENTER,

AN INDEPENDENT GAME AND MOD DEVELOPER ONLINE SERVICE AND TOOLKIT

 

BRISBANE, Calif. – September 5, 2007 – IGN Entertainment, a division of Fox Interactive Media, today announced that its game developer-focused Web site, ModCenter (http://www.modcenter.com) has launched to the public and is now open for users and teams to create and manage game development projects.

 

Built around the proven SourceForge toolset by CollabNet (http://www.collab.net) and completely free to use, ModCenter is aimed specifically at modification and independent game development. The new online service provides project management utilities, industry educational resources and promotional services to the development community.  Utilities include a bug-tracking system, project discussion forums, source code repositories, a wiki system, document storage and an internal file release system, all controlled via a project administration area.

 

“IGN and GameSpy have always supported user-created content editorially as well as through promotion and distribution,” said Jamie Berger, SVP Consumer Products & Technology for IGN Entertainment. “Mod and Independent game development is becoming increasingly sophisticated, often involving team members from across the globe.  With ModCenter, our aim is to provide these aspiring and game developers with sophisticated project management and development tools to support the creation and distribution of high-quality independent video games.  We are especially pleased to work with CollabNet and their SourceForce system, a proven leader in tools and community support for Open Source software development.”

 

In addition to its development tools, ModCenter plans to offer promotional services to its users in tandem with IGN’s leading game file download site, FilePlanet (http://www.fileplanet.com).  ModCenter will also begin offering a series of knowledge base tutorials, videos, and general articles from established developers and industry leaders as well as a friendly, helpful community of like-minded developers.

 

For more information about ModCenter please go to www.modcenter.com.

 

About IGN Entertainment

IGN Entertainment, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, Inc., is a leading Internet media and services provider focused on the videogame and entertainment enthusiast markets. Collectively, IGN's properties reached more than 30 million unique users worldwide in the month of July 2007, according to Internet audience measurement firm comScore Media Metrix. IGN's network of videogame-related properties (IGN.com, GameSpy, FilePlanet, TeamXbox, Direct2Drive and others), is the Web's number one videogame information destination and attracts one of the largest concentrated audiences of young males on the Internet. IGN also owns and operates the popular movie-related website, Rotten Tomatoes and one of the leading male lifestyle Websites, AskMen.com. In addition, IGN provides technology for online game play in videogames. IGN is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices throughout the U.S. and in Montreal.

 

About FilePlanet

FilePlanet is a leading online destination site for exclusive betas, demos and trials of upcoming new videogames from top publishers and developers. With over 330,000 files, FilePlanet has one of the largest online libraries for videogame files.  FilePlanet is part of the IGN Entertainment network.

 

About CollabNet

With 1.2 million users, CollabNet is the industry's most widely used collaborative platform for software development. The CollabNet platform supports globally distributed teams in a centralized, cost-effective way, yielding 20% to 30% annual savings through reduced development infrastructure costs, increased productivity, improved project visibility and shared access to software assets.