KIRKLAND, Wash., May 02, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rightside (Nasdaq:NAME), a leading provider of domain name services that advance the way businesses and consumers define and present themselves online, today announced it has secured the .GAMES domain extension. Rightside plans to launch .GAMES in Q3 2016 starting at a standard wholesale price of $12.00.



The .GAMES extension will offer gamers, publishers, game developers, and retailers the opportunity to distinguish themselves with short, relevant, and memorable web addresses. For example, a .GAMES domain name, such as Twitch.games, Zynga.games or yourname.games, enables a brand or individual to lock in a modern domain name and proudly claim their game identity online.

“The software games industry alone is forecasted to grow from $90 billion a year in 2016 to $115 billion a year by 2020 and that doesn’t even include the hardware and hobby game market,” said Rightside CEO Taryn Naidu. “Our acquisition of .GAMES is an exciting opportunity for game brands of all sizes, as well as individuals to buy an easy-to-remember online .GAMES destination, and use it as a helpful online searching, positioning and branding tool.”

Growing Demand For Games Requires Go Beyond the Dot Com

As the games industry rapidly expands and gamers and publishers alike seek to stand-out, having the right domain name can be instrumental in driving awareness, retention, and even capturing a wider narrative to appeal and engage more viewers. With .GAMES, no one has to sacrifice their creative desire for the perfect name, but instead can easily create a memorable and focused domain name that can function as a guidepost to attract fans, customers, and audiences, whether it’s redirecting to an existing website, creating a new website, or forwarding it to an existing broadcasting platform. For example, on average, there are 1,440 channels streaming League of Legends on Twitch, which has managed to sustain a consistent audience of 120K concurrent viewers. Someone interested in starting their own League of Legends broadcast could create a .GAMES website that was easy to remember and then redirect it to their Twitch broadcast, which is similar to how Periscopers like Ryan Bell and Kim Garst embraced Rightside’s .LIVE domain to capture the hearts, minds, and attention spans of fans with a short website address that is easy to remember.

Rightside believes .GAMES fits nicely into its portfolio of domain names like .LIVE, .SOCIAL, and .NEWS, which are being rapidly embraced to showcase popular Internet culture. For example, YouTube stars like Joe Rogan (1.85 million Twitter followers) use .LIVE to drive traffic to his stream and Al Roker now uses a Rightside domain, RokerMedia.live. People with major Periscope followings, such as Ryan A. Bell (Ryan.live) and Brian Fanzo (iSocialFanz.live) use the .LIVE domain to house all their accounts under a single brand, and they can quickly change where the domain points to make sure people have access to their content. In addition, traditional publishers like the Los Angeles Times, to Alphabet’s unfiltered.news, or Now This Media’s use of election.news have embraced TLDs to showcase themselves as source of current events, trends, and information.

About Rightside

Rightside® inspires and delivers new possibilities for consumers and businesses to define and present themselves online. The company, with its affiliates, is a leading provider of domain name services, offering one of the industry's most comprehensive platforms for the discovery, registration, usage, and monetization of domain names. In addition to being a new gTLD registry operator, Rightside is home to some of the most admired brands in the industry, including eNom and Name.com. Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, Rightside has offices in North America, Europe, and Australia. For more information please visit www.rightside.co.

Contact Acacia Krebs Director, Corporate Communications Rightside press@rightside.co