Owner WarCry Corp. | Created by WarCry Corp. Commercial no | |
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Type of site Gaming culture and news site Revenue advertisement-generated | ||
WarCry Network (or WarCry.com per the URL) is a fan-based web site network centered on MMOGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) and other similar interests. It boasts a large community of professional web sites and databases for these games.
Contents
One of the regular features at WarCry.com are exclusive interviews with game developers and game company executives. Among past interviewees are Matt Mihaly, CEO of Iron Realms Entertainment, Steven-Elliot Altman, lead writer at 9Dragons, Howard Marks, CEO of Acclaim Games, John Scott Tynes, producer of Pirates of the Burning Sea, Jeff Anderson, CEO of Turbine, Inc., Scott Hartsman, senior producer and creative director of Everquest II, Tom Chilton, lead designer of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, David Perry, lead designer of 2Moons, Stieg Hedlund, design director of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, Chris McKibbin, president of Perpetual Entertainment, Mike Goslin, vice president of Virtual Reality Studio, Dan Elggren, senior producer at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, Daron Stinnett, executive producer at Perpetual Entertainment, Josh Drescher, senior designer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and Aaron Cohen, producer of Ultima Online.
History
The company known as WarCry Corp. was started in 1997 by Alexander Macris. Originally a developer and publisher of online games, in 2001 WarCry acquired the assets of Crossroads Gaming Network (also known as XRGaming) in an undisclosed private transaction. The merged company took the WarCry name as WarCry Corp., but dropped the online gaming angle to concentrate on more coverage of games, particularly massively multiplayer which had been XRGaming's stock in trade. Whilst popular, XRGaming had been suffering in the midst of the dot-com bust and WarCry's funding enabled both to survive.
WarCry is owned and operated completely by Themis Group, which was also founded by Alexander Macris. On July 12, 2005 Themis Group launched The Escapist, which runs using the same software and a similar layout to WarCry.com. On October 6, 2008 Themis Group announced they would be focusing their full company efforts on The Escapist and WarCry.
Coverage
The WarCry Network specializes in covering numerous popular MMOGs. The network itself has numerous daughter sites dedicated to covering almost all aspects of the games it covers. It has specific database pages for no less than 29 different online games, including extremely popular games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, Lineage II, City of Heroes and even the aging Dark Age of Camelot. The WarCry network now covers games, movies, anime, comics and other parts of the entertainment industry, supplied by a network of contributors and user-submitted content. Similar to many print gaming magazines, the WarCry network conducted its own "Editor's Choice Awards" in 2006.
Some of their contemporaries include TenTonHammer.com, IGN's Vault Network, Stratics and the Coldfront Gaming Network.
Impact on the gaming community
Many gaming news sites index and/or link to articles that were originally published on WarCry. Some of the editorials published on the network have been used as sources by other articles as well. Many of their interviews with game developers have been referenced to by other online news sites.
Some official game websites have considered the network significant enough so as to reference them on their official websites. For example, Lineage II's news site stated that WarCry had exclusive coverage of their "Lineage II Battle Tournament". Paris-based NEVRAX, makers of the massively-multiplayer online game The Saga of Ryzom, has also mentioned the WarCry Network in an official press release, alongside notable industry news sources such as GameSpy and Computer Gaming World.
In light of their 2006 Editor's Choice Awards, many game developers have also acknowledged the network on their own official websites. Cryptic Studios, makers of the massively multiplayer City of Heroes and Marvel Universe Online games referenced their Editor's Choice Award on their official news site. Another major MMOG, EVE Online, acknowledged WarCry for naming their Revelations expansion, "Expansion of the Year" on their front page.