TEN and Heat Make Card Deal

Not too long ago, it would have been hard to imagine. But things are still changing in the world of online gaming and one-time competitors are now finding that their strategies perhaps aren't so incompatible after all.

At least, that's the case with HEAT.net and TEN, which on Friday announced a distribution agreement that will make TEN's "Classic Games" - card, word, board, and puzzle games - available to HEAT.net users. The agreement will also see those games offered to subscribers of the @Home Network and Road Runner cable modem service through deals HEAT.net already has in place with those entities.

"Working with HEAT.net, we now have relationships with... two of the leading broadband companies who are poised to become major providers of high-speed Internet access in the future," said Erick Hachenburg, TEN president and CEO. "The deal with SegaSoft's HEAT.net illustrates just how much TEN has transitioned away from its hard-core, 'pay-to-play' focus of the past, as our new business model is actually complimentary to this former competitor."

TEN's new strategy is to focus on what it calls "vertical niche markets," and this agreement with HEAT.net is TEN's new attempt to focus on "avid gaming enthusiasts." TEN says it expects to announce other "vertically focused" sites that will offer TEN content.