It's uncertain how many Americans are playing console games for money. But with nearly 70 such games hooked to the Internet in North America,
Beyond Gaming hopes to tap into at least 30,000 players within its first month.
The concept is simple: provide a site through which members can play console game tournaments for fun � no membership fee � or for stakes � $7.95.
Because the Toledo company takes no cut of the winnings, and because console games are considered games of skill, the service is legal, says President and CEO Tony Legeza.
Legeza and co-founder Justin Yamek, himself a competitive console gamer, came up with the idea after Yamek qualified for a west coast tournament last year but couldn't scrape together the funds to fly to LA.
Instead, they asked, why not build a Web-based service that allows gamers to connect with others, organize tournaments, and build relationships through a robust social media component?
The service was launched earlier this year as a closed beta site with 500 players, but quickly picked up an additional 500 after going public a little more than two weeks ago, Legeza says.
"When you go on the site you create a profile, you've got your friends and your wall that you can communicate with," Legeza says. "We've got different chat rooms and video chat rooms where you can share video and let other people watch you play in a competition. People have a space to come to where they can start communicating about something they're passionate about, share their experiences, provide content, upload photos, share video content."
The company had early help from
Rocket Ventures, which invested an initial $100,000, and angel funding of more than $100,000. The company is in the midst of a $500,000 venture capital round as well.
Beyond Gaming currently has four employees.
Source: Tony Legeza, Beyond GamingWriter: Gene Monteith