MLG Acquires Gameplay Data Firm Agora Games

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Professional video game league Major League Gaming (*MLG*) has acquired Agora Games, a game tech company that powers the publisher-owned online communities for games like Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. Agora Games will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of *MLG*. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though MLG (SEO: 066570) CEO Matt Bromberg told me that the entire Agora Games team, including President Mike DelPrete, would be joining as full-time employees.

*MLG* has grown through acquisitions; it bought console tournament site GameBattles.com in 2006, and competitive gaming news site GotFrag.com in 2007. This new deal signals the company’s first push into the business of gameplay data — or automatically pulling in stats like how long someone plays a game for, the achievements they earn, and potentially which in-game ads they’ve seen. Competitors in this space include Raptr, GamerDNA, and newcomer GameGround, which recently raised $4 million in funding from Sequoia.

Bromberg said Agora Games’ reach made it an attractive target, since the N.Y.-based company’s tech was currently tracking stats for over 25 million gamers. The goal is to bundle the gameplay data from Agora Games with stats from MLG’s existing community, in a way that makes MLG’s core offering more attractive to both players and advertisers.

Meanwhile, Agora Games’ client roster includes publishers like *Activision*, *THQ* and Konami; the company will still be able to service them apart from *MLG*, though Bromberg said the standalone business would likely only increase MLG’s revenues by 10 percent. *MLG* is backed by over $42 million in funding from investors including Oak Investment Partners and Ritchie Capital; Bromberg said the company was on track to break even this year.

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