BarrysWorld saved from extinction

Gaming Service Provider BarrysWorld entered into voluntary liquidation earlier this year after failing to secure a second round of funding from venture capitalists 3i, and after three weeks of talks, Electronics Boutique has risen from the crowd and plucked up the company's assets for a figure reportedly around £400,000. EB will apparently use the assets to operate an online gaming service which will be promoted by its 300-strong chain of stores, to loyalty card holders and also on the company's website. The new service will operate under the EB Media umbrella according to a release issued by MCV this morning, and a number of the Barry's former staff will be rehired to operate the service. EB's John Steinbrecher, Chief Executive commented that "On-line gaming compliments our existing business and we are delighted to be able to bring this additional service to our customers" "The problem that online gaming companies have is generating traffic. We have the ability to drive our customer base through to the BarrysWorld service ­ that¹s a million customers gong through our stores every week that we can promote the online gaming service to. We have 2.5 million loyalty card holders who we can educate about online gaming. It is a very exciting move." BarrysWorld co-founder Ben "TedTheDog" Lawton, confirmed the changes in an emotional address to the BarrysWorld readers this morning, but even he is unsure of his own future. "Right now I'm writing as the co-founder of BarrysWorld pleased to see it carry on, rather than as an employee of Electronics Boutique", he said at the end of his update. It's clear that the service will be unlike its former self. "Our biggest cost was staff closely followed by the cost of providing the gaming service itself. We used to have 35 full time staff and there's no way in hell EB could afford to employ everyone again, it's simply uneconomical", Ted admitted. EB Media's CJ Ravey, also commenting in a BarrysWorld release, was noticeably more upbeat about the turn of events. "BW is alive again, and I for one couldn't be happier", he opened. "With the goodwill, good service and just damn good gaming going on with BW, it would have been criminal to let it die." Ravey was honest enough to admit that "Somethings (sic) will change", but just what is still being debated by the powers that be at EB Media. Ted has pledged to keep the BarrysWorld readership up to date on news about status of individual services such as hosting, leagues and bookable servers. At the moment though, there is still plenty to be decided upon before Barrysworld can move on once again. In a rather embarrassing start to the EB Media / BarrysWorld working relationship though, EB issued a release to MCV without telling anyone else, leaving hordes of the service's fans waiting patiently on Internet Relay Chat servers to hear the news from a fellow gamer whilst officials milled about all over the place in panic mode. Hopefully not a sign of things to come... Related Feature - Barrysworld liquidated