Gameplay.com Soars

Shares of online game source Gameplay.com rose sharply on news of two new partnerships. The company followed the announcement of an earlier deal to provided a games channel for the website of Britain's Cable and Wireless Communications with the announcement of a deal to provide an e-commerce game shop for British Telecommunications. Gameplay, created by the merger of mail order game retailer Interactive and BT's Wireplay, can now be reached by Internet, telephone, interactive TV, and cable. "We are now available on whatever platform a customer may happen to own," said Gameplay COO Collin Duffy, "Our next steps will expand operations into Germany and France in the near future. There will be further acquisitions and development of a European wide company."