GigaMedia Limited
Encyclopedia
GigaMedia Limited is a major provider of online entertainment software and services. GigaMedia develops software for online entertainment services, including the global online gaming market. GigaMedia’s FunTown game portal is a leading Asian casual games portal and the world’s largest online MahJong game site in terms of revenue. GigaMedia operates the EverestPoker poker site, one of the largest poker rooms in the world.
on February 24, 2000.
Under new management in 2004, GigaMedia began to restructure.
platforms in Asia, with approximately six million registered users and a wide variety of casual games, including the world’s largest MahJong platform in terms of revenue. FunTown generates revenues through access fees and also through the sales of various in-game items. It was founded in 1998 by the Acer
computer company. They are based in Greater China
, with offices in Shanghai
, Hong Kong
, and Taiwan
.
FunTown’s casual games are designed for players of all levels of skill and experience, from the complete beginner to the “Game Master.” FunTown also provides services, such as game clubs for players, tournaments related to FunTown’s online casual games, and social networking. The company’s software allows users to create their own online persona – offering players a wide selection of clothing, styles, icons and other elements to individualize a player’s online look.
FunTown’s games can be played on personal computers, mobile phones, airplane entertainment consoles and will be available on the Xbox 360
in Taiwan in 2006. FunTown has developed nearly all games in-house.
cardroom powered by Grand Virtual Gaming Alliance technology and fully owned by GigaMedia Limited.
Everest Poker offers online tournaments and ring game
s in both play and real money formats, as well as both web-browser and download client platforms (Windows-only
).
Everest Poker sponsors a number of real-world tournaments, including the Spanish Poker Tour.
Everest Poker is the sole poker-related table sponsor of the 2008 World Series of Poker
and the 2009 World Series of Poker
. The Everest Poker logo was located on the "felt" of every table in the competition. They also had other prominent on-site visibility at the WSOP, including hanging banners and barricade logos.
Antoine Saout, who finished third on 2009 World Series of Poker
Main Event qualified to the event by Everest Poker satellite.
History of GigaMedia
GigaMedia was incorporated in September 1999 as a company limited by shares organized under the laws of the Republic of Singapore, and completed an initial public offering of its shares on NASDAQNASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
on February 24, 2000.
Under new management in 2004, GigaMedia began to restructure.
- In April 2004, GigaMedia acquired the business and operations of Grand Virtual, Inc. and related affiliates, a privately-held entertainment software developer and application service provider, through Cambridge Entertainment Software Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary.
- In September 2005, GigaMedia sold all of its ownership interest in the Rose Records and Tachung Records music store chains in Taiwan to sharpen focus on online entertainment software and services.
- In January 2006, GigaMedia acquired FunTown, the world’s largest online MahJong game site by revenue and a leading Asian online casual games portal with approximately 5 million registered users.
- In March 2006, GigaMedia entered into a strategic alliance with online community blogBlogA blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
site, WretchWretch (website)Wretch is a Taiwanese community web site; in Chinese, its name means Anonymous Lil' Site or Nameless Lil' Station. It is the most well-known blog community in Taiwan with thousands of users registered. Wretch provides free album, and blog hosting services. Four languages, including English, are...
. According to market rankings from independent industry source Alexa.comAlexa InternetAlexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and Web site. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Web site where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's Web traffic...
, WretchWretch (website)Wretch is a Taiwanese community web site; in Chinese, its name means Anonymous Lil' Site or Nameless Lil' Station. It is the most well-known blog community in Taiwan with thousands of users registered. Wretch provides free album, and blog hosting services. Four languages, including English, are...
is one of the most popular sites on the Internet in terms of daily traffic.
- In May 2006, GigaMedia entered an exclusive partnership with and strategic investment in online casual games company T2CN Holding Limited. T2CN is a leading online sports casual gameCasual gameA casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment required in contrast to more complex hardcore games...
operator in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
with over 21 million registered users.
- In December 2006 GigaMedia entered into a strategic alliance with Infocomm Asia Holdings Pte Ltd, an operator and distributor of online games in Southeast Asia.
- In December 2006, GigaMedia entered into a licensing agreement with a subsidiary of the PM Media Group, an online entertainment provider, through which GigaMedia has licensed certain of its gaming software.
- In May 2007, GigaMedia Licenses Hit SEGASega, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Game, the latest sequel to No.1 RPG series Phantasy StarPhantasy Staris the first installment in Sega's renowned series of the same name. It was released for the Sega Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987, and then in North America and Europe in 1988. It is considered one of the pioneers amongst console role-playing games, both for its advanced graphics...
.
- In June 2007, GigaMedia formed a strategic alliance with SoftStar Entertainment Inc . and made an initial investment of NT$60 million (or approximately US$1.8 million) for the acquisition of 10 million convertible preferred shares of SoftStar. SoftStar is a games design house and online game operator in Taiwan. SoftStar has announced plans in 2005 for Xbox 360 game development.
- In September 2007, GigaMedia secured an exclusive license to offer and operate the hot new massively multiplayer online role-playing game Holic, in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
- In November 2007, GigaMedia and Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
signed an agreement for the operation of highly anticipated Online Game NBA Street Online.
- In December 2007, GigaMedia announced a strategic partnership with and investment in hot game development studio XLGames Inc headed by Jake SongJake SongJake Song, Korean Name Song Jae-kyeong , b. 1965 , is a South Korean programmer who is regarded as one of the greatest game developers in Korea. He played a major role in creating the MMORPG Lineage, an online game with huge following in Korea...
, the creator of The Kingdom of the Winds - one of the world's first MMORPGs, and LineageLineage (computer game)Lineage is a medieval fantasy, massively multiplayer online role-playing game released in the United States in 1998 by the South Korean computer game developer NCsoft. It is most popular in Korea and is available in Chinese, Japanese, and English language versions...
- the most popular online game franchise in history.
- In December 2007, GigaMedia announced a strategic partnership with and investment in leading game development studio Neostorm Holdings Limited, one of the largest independent game developers in South Korea.
- In 2008, GigaMedia announced online PachinkoPachinkois a type of game originating in Japan, and used as both a form of recreational arcade game and much more frequently as a gambling device, filling a niche in gambling in Japan comparable to that of the slot machine in Western gambling. A pachinko machine resembles a vertical pinball machine, but...
for the Japanese market.
- In January 2008, GigaMedia signed an exclusive license from Electronic Arts to offer and operate Warhammer Online in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.
- In August 2008, GigaMedia sold its ISPInternet service providerAn Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
business to China Network Systems for $20 million in cash plus up to $5 million over the next two years.
FunTown
A subsidiary of GigaMedia, FunTown is one of the leading casual gameCasual game
A casual game is a video game targeted at or used by a mass audience of casual gamers. Casual games can have any type of gameplay, and fit in any genre. They are typically distinguished by their simple rules and lack of commitment required in contrast to more complex hardcore games...
platforms in Asia, with approximately six million registered users and a wide variety of casual games, including the world’s largest MahJong platform in terms of revenue. FunTown generates revenues through access fees and also through the sales of various in-game items. It was founded in 1998 by the Acer
Acer (company)
Acer Incorporated is a multinational information technology and electronics corporation headquartered in Xizhi, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Acer's products include desktop and laptop PCs, tablet computers, servers, storage devices, displays, smartphones and peripherals...
computer company. They are based in Greater China
Greater China
Greater China is a term used to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. As a "phrase of the moment", the precise meaning is not entirely clear, and people may use it for only the commercial ties, only the cultural actions, or even as a euphemism for the Two Chinas, while others may...
, with offices in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
.
FunTown’s casual games are designed for players of all levels of skill and experience, from the complete beginner to the “Game Master.” FunTown also provides services, such as game clubs for players, tournaments related to FunTown’s online casual games, and social networking. The company’s software allows users to create their own online persona – offering players a wide selection of clothing, styles, icons and other elements to individualize a player’s online look.
FunTown’s games can be played on personal computers, mobile phones, airplane entertainment consoles and will be available on the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
in Taiwan in 2006. FunTown has developed nearly all games in-house.
Everest Poker
Everest Poker is a multilingual online pokerOnline poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
cardroom powered by Grand Virtual Gaming Alliance technology and fully owned by GigaMedia Limited.
Everest Poker offers online tournaments and ring game
Ring game
Ring game may refer to:*Ring game , a general class of multi-player pocket billiards gambling games*Ring game, a.k.a. cash game, a poker game played with "real" chips and each player's own money at stake, as opposed to a poker tournament with a prize money pool...
s in both play and real money formats, as well as both web-browser and download client platforms (Windows-only
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
).
Everest Poker sponsors a number of real-world tournaments, including the Spanish Poker Tour.
Everest Poker is the sole poker-related table sponsor of the 2008 World Series of Poker
2008 World Series of Poker
The 2008 World Series of Poker was the 39th annual World Series of Poker . Held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino, the series began on May 30, 2008, and featured 55 poker championships in several variants. All events but the $10,000 World Championship No Limit Texas hold...
and the 2009 World Series of Poker
2009 World Series of Poker
The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
. The Everest Poker logo was located on the "felt" of every table in the competition. They also had other prominent on-site visibility at the WSOP, including hanging banners and barricade logos.
Antoine Saout, who finished third on 2009 World Series of Poker
2009 World Series of Poker
The 2009 World Series of Poker was the 40th annual World Series of Poker . It was held at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, and ran from May 27 to July 15. There were 57 bracelet events, culminating in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event...
Main Event qualified to the event by Everest Poker satellite.