.games domain
(Via @namedotcom / Twitter)

Domain name registry Rightside isn’t playing around. The Kirkland, Wash.-based company launched the .games extension on Wednesday and it quickly became the company’s No. 1 performing new top level-domain.

Rightside said the extension is aimed at “a rapidly growing base of gamers and developers that want to use their domain as a meaningful, marketable way to connect with their audiences.”

Major studios such as Activision Publishing, Blizzard Entertainment, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, and Ubisoft Entertainment  took advantage of the sunrise phase where trademark holders can preregister names, Rightside said.

Examples of companies taking advantage of the branding opportunity include:

  • Halo.Games and Xbox.Games — Microsoft redirects to Bing search results for the Halo and Xbox series
  • F1.Games and GrandPrix.Games — Formula 1 Racing
  • Telltale.Games — Developer known for episodic adventure games with licenses to produce games for The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Minecraft, and Batman
  • 888poker.Games — Second-largest online poker brand
  • Sila.Games — Digital game download store
  • MonteCarlo.Games — Casino and gaming operator Societe des Bains de Mer
  • CoolMath.Games — Online game aggregator page, loosely themed around math education

“Whether used as a primary website address or a redirect back to a mothership brand, the shift toward new TLDs is becoming more mainstream in markets where the domain is an integral part of a website owner’s identity, branding strategy, or plans to extend marketing reach,” Rightside CEO Taryn Naidu said in a news release. “As internet culture continues to shift toward social media, live streaming, a rapidly breaking news cycle, and gaming, our TLDs like .social, .live, .news, and now .games open countless opportunities to create unique IDs.”

Rightside’s Name.com even created a new game to promote the launch of .games. Try to beat the high score in Bearglecorn III to win prizes.

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