GameFly Confirms Direct2Drive Purchase

We’ve already reported this as a rumor, but now game and film rental service GameFly has confirmed the purchase of digital distribution service Direct2Drive from IGN. Unfortunately the details of the deal remain secret.

As part of the deal, IGN parent company Newscorp will maintain a minority stake in GameFly and have a representative on the company board. Neither Newscorp nor IGN will play a direct part in the future running of GameFly or Direct2Drive.

“We’re very excited to bring the D2D team on board at GameFly and expand our ability to deliver games to consumers,” said GameFly CEO David Hodess. “Only GameFly can offer a complete library of physical and digital games for the PC, Mac and consoles in one place.”

Update: The Direct2Drive team too confirmed on their blog:

A few words to our community re: GameFly’s acquisition of D2D.

As members of our loyal community, we wanted to share the exciting news with you — Gamefly has officially acquired Direct2Drive today. So what exactly does this mean? It means that an industry leader in digital game distribution is now working together with the #1 online games rental service, GameFly. We know that most of you play PC and console games, so we will now start working on some really exciting offers that combine the best of both gaming worlds.

We appreciate that many of you have grown to trust D2D for all your PC gaming needs. Our services will remain the same. We’ll continue to update you as our integration into one company progresses. As always, we truly thank you for your continued trust and support. Since launching in 2004, the entire staff at D2D has enjoyed delivering games to your PCs. The fact that so many of you are loyal customers makes us feel that our efforts building D2D have been rewarded. Thank you all!

Sincerely,

The GameFly/Direct2Drive Team