Gameplanet was a

video gaming Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback m ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

that provided news, reviews, previews, videos, and other information. It was the largest video gaming website in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Gameplanet New Zealand despite having the same name with the biggest specialized videogame retailer in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, has no connection to Gameplanet S.A.. Gameplanet nalso operated GP Forums, an online

forum Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to: Common uses * Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States *Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city **Roman Forum, most famous example *Internet ...

community site covering video games as well as various other topics. Gameplanet won the NetGuide People's Choice Web Award for "Best Game Related Site" four years running, in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. It also won the award for "Best Youth Site" in 2002.

History

In 1999, Simon Garner created the first

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games in which teams of terrorists battle to perpetrate an act of terror (bombing, hostage-taking, assassination) while counter-terrorists try to preven ...

game server in New Zealand. At that time, Garner was involved in the development and hosting of the web site for GameZone, a small games retail business owned by fellow entrepreneur Simon Barton. The Counter-Strike server was run under the GameZone name. The GameZone Counter-Strike server quickly became popular (and was soon followed by servers from other providers operating at the time, such as Paradise.Net and Jetstream Games). In early 2000, Simon Garner launched a Counter-Strike community site called Counter-Strike NZ (CSNZ). The site covered the latest news about the game and provided forums for players to discuss topics related to the game, arrange matches and form

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

. Gameplanet was the brainchild of GameZone owner Simon Barton. The original concept of the site was to combine magazine-style editorial content such as news and reviews with an interactive online gaming community, expanding upon the success of CSNZ by incorporating forums,

game server A game server (also sometimes referred to as a host) is a server (computing), server which is the authoritative source of events in a multiplayer video game. The server transmits enough data about its internal state to allow its connected Client ...

s, tournaments and competitions for a range of different games. Simon Garner designed and developed the Gameplanet website, which launched in September 2000. Thomas Mahoney was the site's first

editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. After the launch of Gameplanet, Counter-Strike NZ was folded into Gameplanet as part of the "Gameplanet Network", which was over time expanded with additional community sites covering PlayStation 2 (PS2NZ), Day of Defeat (DODNZ), Black & White (BWNZ), Xbox (XBNZ) and Half-Life 2 (HL2NZ). Each site had its own homepage and standalone community forum. In 2002, the forums from each of the Gameplanet Network sites were merged to form a single combined forum, branded as GP Forums. This eliminated duplication of user accounts across all the sites allowing users to browse and post in any of the forums using a single account. Initially, Gameplanet was operated informally as a non-profit venture supported by the GameZone retail business. In order to grow, however, it would need to become self-sustaining, so in late 2002 Simon Barton incorporated Gameplanet (NZ) Ltd as a limited liability company. Simon Garner became an equal partner in the business in early 2003. At the same time, Gameplanet began selling

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

on its website to generate revenue for the business. In May 2012, Gameplanet acquired Australian Gamer and created Gameplanet Australia. Online retailer

Mighty Ape Mighty Ape Ltd is an online retailing company founded and operating in New Zealand since 1999, and owned by Australian company Kogan.com since 2020. Formerly known as ''Gameplanet Store'', it is one of the longest running online retailers in N ...

acquired a controlling stake in Gameplanet in June 2016, purchasing 60% of the business for an undisclosed sum after falling advertising revenues left Gameplanet " nble to continue on its current trajectory" as an independent publisher. Mighty Ape is majority owned by Gameplanet co-founder Simon Barton, and operated under the "Gameplanet Store" brand between 2002–2008. Besides a common shareholder (Barton) the two companies previously had no direct legal relationship. In April 2020, it was announced that Gameplanet would be shutting down.

Awards

References

External links

Gameplanet New Zealand

Gameplanet Australia
(archived) {{Video Game Critics Video game Internet forums New Zealand entertainment websites Video game news websites Internet properties established in 2000 Internet properties disestablished in 2020 2000 establishments in New Zealand Defunct websites