Direct2Drive is back under new owner: GameFly Digital is no more

Direct2Drive is coming back. Launched in 2004, it became an IGN property before being sold to physical game rental site GameFly in 2011 in an attempt to move its business into the digital sphere, at which point it was rebranded GameFly Digital. Direct2Drive was one of the best-known Steam competitors before the GameFly acquisition. Taiwanese company AtGames -- best known in the West for its retro console re-releases, with a product line that includes the Sega Genesis, Atari 2600, and ColecoVision -- has acquired the site and will relaunch it tomorrow under the Direct2Drive name. It will carry an array of "new, catalogue, and retro titles," according to the company. AtGames actually acquired Direct2Drive in April, it revealed today. The news became public in August, but details on what was planned were scarce until today's announcement. AtGames already operates cloud game distribution services in Chinese-speaking territories. "Our vision for the new Direct2Drive is to create the best destination, both for gamers to find their favorite titles and for publishers to showcase their lineups. We will bring a retail-quality experience to the digital world with the best incentives and events that gamers both expect and deserve," said Ed Lin, the new general manager of Direct2Drive, in a statement. The game collections of all GameFly Digital users will seamlessly transition to the new Direct2Drive, according to the company. GameFly has lately been shedding companies it acquired -- the company picked up game news site Shacknews in 2009, but late last month word emerged that it, too, had been sold. Coincidentally, competing digital download platform Desura changed hands this week.