The Internet Game Database (IGDB) is an

online database In computing, a database is an organized collection of Data (computing), data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, Application software, applications, and ...

about

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s launched in 2014. It was acquired by

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

, a subsidiary of

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, in 2019.

Overview

The IGDB lists details about video games and their

companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether natural, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specifi ...

, crew and cast. Similar to Amazon's

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

, IGDB's content is user focused, letting registered users rate, list and review games. Users can also edit and create pages, which are published after being validated by IGDB's employees.

History

IGDB was founded by Christian Frithiof after he first got the idea in 2010 and was able to gather a team. A beta version containing around 200 games was launched in 2014. In August 2015, IGDB introduced a developer

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

free for non-commercial and commercial usage. In 2016, IGDB secured their first investment which allowed its employees to work full time and relocate to

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. As of 2020 IGDB has their own office, with a branch in USA and 11 employees working remote from various countries. On September 17, 2019, IGDB was acquired by

, a

livestreaming Livestreaming, live-streaming, or live streaming is the streaming of video or audio in real time or near real time. While often referred to simply as ''streaming'', the real-time nature of livestreaming differentiates it from other non- liv ...

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of

. Twitch use IGDB's database to feed its search and discovery functions. As of March 2023, IGDB has 99,000 members and encompasses 428,000 games (of which 196,500 are DLCs and re-releases), 44,300 companies and 217,000 people as well as over 1.1 million reviews, screenshots and videos.

References

External links

* {{Official website Online game databases Internet properties established in 2014 2019 mergers and acquisitions Swedish websites