Xfire is a popular gaming themed messaging and matchmaking service with over 19 million registered users. However the past few years have seen the company acquired by two different organizations. This week Xfire announced that it is a stand alone company once more, due in part to a new $4 million investment from Intel Capital as well as other unnamed angel investors.
The press release states that with its new status, it also has a new executive team including Mark Donovan as its new President. Donovan said, "This round of capital is allowing us to make many enhancements starting with an entirely new look for the Xfire website and chat application. Intel Capital"s funding will help us take what is already the leader in the space to the next level by continuing to build the team and quickly iterating on our product." One of Xfire"s features is allowing users to share game screenshots, videos and more with other Xfire users. Donovan states, "Soon they will be able to use Xfire to share them to other social networks and numerous top-tier websites."
In 2006, Xfire was acquired by MTV Networks for a massive $102 million in cash. However in April 2010 MTV sold off the company to Titan Gaming, a relatively new organization. Titan Gaming never announced how much they paid to acquire Xfire but it did announce earlier in 2010 it had raised $1 million in angel funding. Titan Gaming has apparently changed its focus to Facebook gaming; its official web site has now been redirected to Gamesandprizes.com, which offers Facebook gamers real world rewards for playing games.