Web 2 Ireland

Lots of Gaming related activity happening in Ireland at the moment

Havok founders, Dr. Steven Collins and Hugh Reynolds are rumored to have signed multiple deals with large gaming platforms and publishing houses, with their startup new game technology, which is trading as Kore

Tribal City Interactive based in Galway are working on social games for both Facebook and Twitter

Jolt Online, recently acquired by Gamestop, are hiring like mad

Crowdstar, one of the largest social gaming companies on Facebook, have an operation in Ireland (codename: CSI) , headed up by Gavin Barrett

IDA Ireland announced over 100 jobs at Dublin based Gala Networks Europe

Large US Retailer GameStop (Market Cap – $4bn, 6k+ stores) has acquired a majority stake in Jolt Online Gaming, a Dublin based publisher of free-to-play browser titles, led by founder & CEO, Dylan Collins.

This is the 2nd exit for Dylan, as his previous company Demonware was acquired by Activision in 2007. Original investors in Jolt Online, were founder Dylan Collins, angel investors, AIB Seed Fund and Enterprise Ireland.

We spoke with Dylan earlier this week, and he confirmed the deal. Dylan will continue to lead Jolt Online, and they will be ramping up their operation in Ireland over the next 12 months.

Great result for Dylan and his team – and more proof that the Gaming scene within Ireland is strong.

Jolt Online Gaming announced the release of Utopia Kingdoms, the successor to the legendary Utopia online game. In Utopia Kingdoms, players compete within the Utopia universe to establish and expand their kingdoms across the land.

Check out the press release

You can play Utopia Kingdoms for free in any Internet browser on PC, Mac or any other operating system. There's nothing to download and there are thousands of players already there. Why not join in and see how well you would rule?