Xfire purchased by Titan Gaming, developers leaving

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Xfire, a popular game-oriented messenger platform, has come under new ownership. According to official announcements today, Titan Gaming has purchased the service for an undisclosed sum, and most of the existing team is leaving. A developer bid his farewells in a message on the Xfire site. "We've enjoyed our time and I personally am sad that I was only able to do 127 releases. Good bye and game on!"

Launched in the early 2000s, Xfire was purchased by Viacom in 2006 for $102 million. Since then, it has quadrupled in users, with 16.7 million registered members today. In addition to instant messaging, the service provides a broad range of features, including game tracking, live broadcasts, an in-game browser, and a clan system.

Despite the shift in management, Titan Gaming says Xfire will continue to operate uninterrupted and vows to use the platform "to help gaming companies better engage and monetize their games." Although there are said to be over 16 million users, it's not clear how many are active. Plenty of members have abandoned the platform in favor of Steam and others. Do you still hop on Xfire regularly?

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https://www.techspot.com/news/39858-xfire-purchased-by-titan-gaming-developers-leaving.html

 

[CRad]

yes!

Xfire still has a lot over steam... Steam is not a dedicated messenger, although it has some unique things about it and a very nicely polished design (which xfire needs desperately) it is still lagging being quite a lot in many respects!

I use xfire as a games commentator, people are able to contact me easily, chat easily and make comments during matches that I can then read without interrupting the flow of the cast... Steam lacks that and lacks the "grouping" ability (amongst a zillion others)... xfire is still strong and will be (especially think of "the resistance", i.e. those that hate steam and refuse to use it)

 

[myrmidonks]

Xfire has one of the best in-game recording features I have ever seen. It has a very polished design, and allows you to choose size and quality of the recording. A downside is that the Xfire- in game feature that allows you to record, chat, etc. from a game cannot be used with some games that have protection against 3rd party programs being used with their games.

 

[Relic]

Been using Xfire since its early years on and off and I love it. I wish Steam would adopt some of there ideas as its messenger service alone feels dated even with the recent updates. I am a bit concerned though with Titan Gamings motivations especially since the core veteran team left Xfire. Makes me wonder what direction they plan to go with Xfire down the road especially since they aren't shy of advertising their goals of monetization.

 

[EXCellR8]

i haven't used xfire in years... since the glory days of CS:S!

 

[Guest]

I have been using xfire since the beginning. Its a shame to see them go.

 

[TorturedChaos]

I've used it off and on for several years. I like the in game messaging, and how I can control my iTunes from inside the game. A few games I have don't alt+tab very fast or reliably - namely SC2....

 

[bandit8623]

steam doesn't have the file sharing feature. still use it for that sometimes. i remember still when i entered an xfire contest for a dlink dgl-4300 gaming router and won! couldn't believe it

 

[Docnoq]

I used it when it first was released and for several years later.. until Steam started tracking my game time for games. However, I recently started using it again now that I play SC2. I mainly just want to keep track of the number of hours I put in it

 

[c0nf1ck3r]

i have it start up with windows each boot! i like how it keeps track of games i play, not provided on steam always. i dont use it to IM much, but i still enjoy it, and talk in it occasionally.

 

[teklord]

I'm on XFire now and I love using it. Haven't tried Steam messenger yet so I can't compare it to that. Love recording my hours with it, taking tons of screenies, occasional videos, monitoring FPS levels and more. I don't play PC games without it now days. Can't stand a lot of people on my friends list though. It's hard not get rude people on your friends list. >:|