Never heard of free social gaming site Kongregate? For shame. You will soon, though, because they’ve been acquired by mega retailer GameStop as the company continues its push into the digital business, moving in on the online flash games space. One retailer to rule them all. Kongregate is home to over 10 million users, and that number is sure to explode exponentially is the months to come.

The deal is expected to take effect on August 1st, at which point Kongregate becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary. But according to the site, GameStop “is not looking to change” them, “they just want to help us grow and improve.”

Kongregate notes that they are aiming to hook users up with free goodies as a reward for spending time on the site, and that they’ll be utilizing GameStop’s recently announced PowerUp Rewards program to do it.

“Our community will only be enhanced by GameStop’s close relationship with millions of passionate gamers,” says co-founder Jim Greer, adding “The reason we went with them is that they are very focused on going the way of Netflix, not the way of Blockbuster. They have serious resources to put behind that, and they’re committed to it. I’ll be reporting to the president. There’s no way we would have that kind of stature and control if we’d sold to a big media company, or Google, or whatever. They’re keeping the entire staff, and we’ll be able to hire more programmers and get more done.“

Best of luck to the three-year old gaming portal. Here’s hoping that, if nothing else, an official game featuring the GameStop commercial rabbit is produced and enjoyed by many.


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