Duke's Big Break

On Thursday, GT Interactive announced a US$15 million acquisition of OneZero Media, a two-year-old Internet entertainment company known for its syndicated television show The Wild, Wild Web and entertainment and e-commerce portal site getwild.com.

GT's interest in the company will help push its products and develop new forms of revenue from e-commerce, licensing, Internet, and TV advertising. This is also the first time that an entertainment software publisher will own its own Internet portal and TV show.

"This has never been just a game company - we've always looked at ourselves as an entertainment company," said GT spokesperson Allyne Mills.

"Leveraging the core competencies of OneZero Media and GT Interactive, our goal is to build the premier entertainment portal and establish an online community to fulfill a wide variety of consumers' entertainment needs," said Ron Chaimowitz, chairman and chief executive officer of GT Interactive. "Our acquisition of OneZero Media represents the next logical step as we build upon our core strengths in entertainment software, brand building, and retail merchandising to become a cross-media entertainment company."

GT already tallies one million unique users who visit the GT Interactive, Cavedog, Humongous, and WizardWorks sites. The company hopes to expand its reach and deliver an online experience that delivers greater depth - and greater opportunity to drive retail transactions online. "This is about us building a community where people will go for all of their entertainment needs," Mills added.

Chaimowitz told GameSpot News today that GT's strategy includes a greater focus on online multiplayer gaming and said GT would be announcing additional alliances in the near future addressing online gaming. He also said the OneZero site will further evolve into an e-commerce site that supports the sales of music and videos.

The Wild Wild Web (currently syndicated by CBS) and the show's complimentary web site, www.getwild.com, are also the exclusive producer of content and commerce for Alta Vista's Entertainment Zone. With availability to over 85 million potential households, GT could find itself with a new way to advertise its upcoming products to a newer audience. The Wild Wild Web's theme is to present information about the Internet and computing in easy-to-understand language without all the technical terminology.

"The key factor which influenced our decision to ally with GT Interactive is that its management can see the full picture. They understand our business and share our vision," said Alan Chebot, president of OneZero. "Now we have the resources and flexibility to execute on the vision of a converged Internet-TV-retail offering, thereby creating significant opportunities for retailers of entertainment goods to sell directly to consumers."

On the gaming side, GT is working with potential partners to help create an industry-wide gaming community that will include reviews and the option to purchase particular titles.

Does this mean gamers may see dear old Duke Nukem as the star of his own TV talk show or as a gun-toting hawker of Neil Diamond CDs or Bruce Willis videos? You never know.