Gameclub

Gameclub logo.

Gameclub was a live service gaming portal and brand operated by South Korean company Smilegate Holdings, Inc. in the Philippines. Gameclub was originally established in 2009 and was intended as the global gaming portal of South Korean company Liveplex Co. Ltd. It is best known for publishing the FPS CrossFire in the Philippines.

From 2009 until 2019, Gameclub Philippines was handled by Philippine-based publishers. Since 2019, it has been directly handled by CrossFire's South Korean developer, Smilegate. In 2024, the Gameclub brand was retired in favor of Smilegate's own STOVE portal.

This timeline only applies to the Gameclub brand in the Philippines, not the Global and Korean counterparts.

• 2009: Liveplex established Gameclub as a global gaming portal. MyGame was replaced by Gameclub Philippines. Gameclub PH was managed by Gamesoft Technology Inc.
• 2014: GBPlay, Inc., a Philippine subsidiary of Smilegate SEA, was established to manage Gameclub.
• 2019: Gameclub only published one game: CrossFire. GBPlay was replaced by Smilegate Megaport, Inc., a South Korean company. The Gameclub Philippines Facebook page was abandoned. Gameclub branding remained in the website and domain.
• 2022: Smilegate Megaport merged into its parent company, Smilegate Holdings, Inc.
• 2024: Smilegate retired the Gameclub branding in favor of its own STOVE portal.

The Gameclub brand was launched as a global gaming portal by South Korean developer Liveplex Co. Ltd., who also used the brand to publish games on the international market under the American subsidiary Gameclub.com, Inc.^[1][2] (Gameclub Global).

In the Philippines, Gameclub was used to replace the MyGame portal in 2009.

Gameclub regions were divided into the Philippines, South Korea, and Global. The regions operated independently, although they shared the "gameclub.com" domain address. Korea operated under the "kr.gameclub.com" subdomain address, the Philippines operated under "ph.gameclub.com", and Global operated under "sc.gameclub.com". Gameclub Philippines also owned the "gameclub.ph" domain for the website's main entry point and its forums.

Gameclub Philippines is the last to retire in 2024, as Gameclub Korea was shut down by Liveplex in 2016, while Gameclub Global, whose only game was Dragona Global, was shut down along with the game on September 28, 2012.

The Gameclub portal was launched on August 25, 2009, as a brand replacement for MyGame.^[3] It was managed by Philippine publisher Gamesoft Technology Inc..

In 2014, Gameclub was operated by GBPlay, Inc., a wholly-owned Philippine subsidiary of Smilegate Worldwide Pte. Ltd. Smilegate Worldwide was the SEA publishing arm of Smilegate, the South Korean developer of CrossFire.

Smilegate SEA originally planned to launch "Gambooz" in 2015, a Steam-style platform for the SEA region. Gameclub was planned to be rebranded as Gambooz,^[4] however, the platform was never launched.

In September 2018, Gameclub announced that it would publish the Philippine server of Lost Saga. However, the game was never launched.

GBPlay to Smilegate Megaport service notice.

By July 2019, Gameclub under GBPlay was only publishing one game, CrossFire, in the Philippines.

On August 1, 2019, the CrossFire Philippines website announced that GBPlay would cease publishing the CrossFire on September 1 and Smilegate Megaport, Inc., a company based in South Korea, would continue its operations. The Gameclub Philippines Facebook page was abandoned, although the Gameclub branding was retained while operating CrossFire.

In 2022, Smilegate Megaport was merged into its parent company, Smilegate Holdings, Inc.

On April 17, 2024, the CrossFire Philippines team announced that the Gameclub branding was going to be replaced by STOVE, a global gaming portal by Smilegate.^[5] Website logos redirect to STOVE, although the website domain and other Gameclub brandings on the website remained in the meantime.

• 

  Special Force (March 2008).
• 

  Fiesta (October 2008).
• 

  Twelve Sky 2 (August 2009).
• 

  CrossFire (October 2009).
• 

  Weapons of War (November 2009).
• 

  iDate (February 2010).
• 

  Dragona (May 2011).
• 

  Genghis Khan Online (December 2011).
• 

  Just Roll It (December 2014).
• 

  LoveBeat (December 2014).
• 

  Lost Saga (October 2018).

1. Gameclub - Korean publisher of Special Forces establishes new global online gaming portal.. November 24, 2009. GamesIndustry International Contributor. GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved on 2023-09-20.
2. Dragona Global Interview – The Age of Dragons descends. May 3, 2011. cinderboy. MMOCulture. Retrieved on 2023-12-09.
3. MyGame is now GameClub!. August 24, 2009. Fiesta Philippines website author. Fiesta Philippines website. Retrieved on 2023-09-20.
4. Smilegate SEA sets its eyes on regional domination with redesigned Gambooz service. September 11, 2014. Iain Garner. Tech In Asia. Retrieved on 2024-05-14.
5. [Notice] Announcement Regarding New Game Platform STOVE and Upcoming GP Web Event. April 17, 2024. Crossfire Philippines Management. CrossFire Philippines website. Retrieved on 2024-05-14.