 | |
Type of site | Online database |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Headquarters | Gothenburg, Sweden |
| CEO | Christian Frithiof |
| Parent | Amazon.com, Inc. |
| URL | igdb.com |
| Registration | Optional, Free |
| Launched | 2014 |
| Current status | Online |
The Internet Game Database (IGDB) is an online database about video games launched in 2014. It was acquired by Twitch, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc, in 2019.
The IGDB lists details about video games and their companies, crew and cast. Similar to Amazon's Internet Movie Database, IGDB's content is user focused, letting registered users rate, list and review games. Users can also edit and create pages, which are published after being validated by IGDB's employees. [1]
IGDB was founded by Christian Frithiof after he first got the idea in 2010 and was able to gather a team of like-minded people. The first beta version containing around 200 game titles was first launched in 2014. [2] In August, 2015 IGDB launched their developer API free for non-commercial & commercial usage. [3]
In 2016, IGDB secured their first investment which allowed its employees to work full time and relocate to Gothenburg, Sweden. As of 2020 IGDB has their own office, with a branch in USA and 11 employees working remote from various countries. [2]
On September 17, 2019, IGDB was acquired by Twitch, a livestreaming video platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. Twitch use IGDB's database to feed its search and discovery functions. [4] [5] [6] [7] [3]
As of March 2023, IGDB has 99,000 members and encompasses 428,000 games (of which 196,500 are DLCs and re-releases), 44,300 companies and 217,000 people as well as over 1.1 million reviews, screenshots and videos.[ citation needed ]
Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It is considered one of the Big Five American technology companies; the other four are Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft.
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small number of people paying to become patrons. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It is currently owned by Atari SA.
jMonkeyEngine is an open-source and cross-platform game engine for developing 3D games written in Java. It can be used to write games for Windows, Linux, macOS, Raspberry Pi, Android, and iOS. It uses Lightweight Java Game Library as its default renderer, and also supports another renderer based on Java OpenGL.
RhythmOne plc, previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel.
IMDb is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, plot summaries, trivia, ratings, and fan and critical reviews. IMDb began as a fan-operated movie database on the Usenet group "rec.arts.movies" in 1990, and moved to the Web in 1993. Since 1998, it has been owned and operated by IMDb.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.
Justin Kan is an American internet entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of live video platforms Justin.tv and Twitch, as well as the mobile social video application Socialcam. He is also the cofounder and former CEO of law-tech company Atrium. In 2024, Kan announced that he had founded Stash, a payment and e-commerce platform for video game developers.
Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as streaming, the real time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other forms of streamed media, such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos.
Fandom is a wiki hosting service that hosts wikis mainly on entertainment topics. The privately held, for-profit Delaware company was founded in October 2004 by Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales and Angela Beesley. Fandom was acquired in 2018 by TPG Inc. and Jon Miller through Integrated Media Co.
Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand or game streaming, is a type of online gaming that runs video games on remote servers and streams the game's output directly to a user's device, or more colloquially, playing a game remotely from a cloud. It contrasts with traditional means of gaming, wherein a game is run locally on a user's video game console, personal computer, or mobile device.
Twitch is an American video live-streaming service that focuses on video game live streaming, including broadcasts of esports competitions, in addition to offering music broadcasts, creative content, and "in real life" streams. Twitch is operated by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. It was introduced in June 2011 as a spin-off of the general-interest streaming platform Justin.tv. Content on the site can be viewed either live or via video on demand. The games shown on Twitch's current homepage are listed according to audience preference and include genres such as real-time strategy games (RTS), fighting games, racing games, and first-person shooters.
Amazon Fire TV is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connected high-definition television. They also allow users to access local content and to play video games with the included remote control or another game controller, or by using a mobile app remote control on another device.
Curse was a gaming company that managed the video game mod host CurseForge, wiki host Gamepedia, and the Curse Network of gaming community websites.
Amazon Games is an American video game company and division of the online retailing company Amazon that primarily focuses on publishing video games developed within the company's development divisions.
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- or two-day delivery of goods, and streaming music, video, e-books, gaming, and grocery shopping services. In April 2021, Amazon reported that Prime had more than 200 million subscribers worldwide.
Video game preservation is a form of preservation applied to the video game industry that includes, but is not limited to, digital preservation. Such preservation efforts include archiving development source code and art assets, digital copies of video games, emulation of video game hardware, maintenance and preservation of specialized video game hardware such as arcade games and video game consoles, and digitization of print video game magazines and books prior to the Digital Revolution.
Amazon is an American multinational technology company which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economic and cultural forces in the world", and is one of the world's most valuable brands.
Amazon Luna is a cloud gaming platform developed and operated by Amazon. Available only in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, the platform is powered by Amazon Web Services, has integration with Twitch, and is available on Windows, Mac, Amazon Fire TV, iOS as well as Android. Luna offers access to a selection of games via the Luna+ subscription as well as to channels from brands such as Ubisoft+ and Jackbox Games.
NFL on Prime Video is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games on the subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service Amazon Prime Video and on sister service Twitch as part of Prime Video Sports. Amazon currently holds exclusive streaming rights for Thursday Night Football.
