netGames Inc.

netGames Inc. is a defunct live service game publisher in the Philippines. The company was launched commercially on February 2005. Its brand was simply named netGames.

It operated in the Philippines from 2004 until 2006, when its gaming operations was merged with competing publisher Level Up!.

History

The company was established in mid-2004. It was majority-owned by ePLDT, Inc., and its other owners include founding shareholders and the group of investors who founded the internet café franchise Netopia and the telecommunications company Smart Communications, Inc.

Merging of netGames and Level Up! Inc.

On February 16, 2006, ePLDT announced that it has bought a majority stake in Level Up! Inc. The company planned to merge the two online publishers by 2007 and was planned to be called "Level-Up!-netGames".[1]

The merge was completed by the end of 2006. The Level Up! brand was retained and the netGames brand was dropped completely. A new website was established to reflect Level Up! 2.0.

Published Games

Silkroad Online was listed in netGames website, though its distribution began after the merge. Level Up! did not publish a Philippine server for Silkroad Online, but instead marketed and offered payment options for the game which was published by its South Korean developer Joymax. It also operated the community portal Juanworld.

Reference

  1. ePLDT buys majority stake in Level-Up! Philippines. February 17, 2006 at 11:01 PM. GMA News author. GMA News. Retrieved on 2023-08-29.