Macrovision Acquires Trymedia

As seen in Edge Online

July 26, 2005 (San Jose, CA) — Trymedia will become the centerpiece in Macrovision‘s new e-distribution unit that focuses solely on games.

Macrovision has long been a leader in encryption to fight casual piracy. Trymedia has historically competed with Macrovision on some level with its Activemark DRM technology though where it’s really made a name for itself is in the e-distribution arena.

With the acquisition of Trymedia (and presumably its game arm, Trygames.com) Macrovision’s newly formed gaming unit is set to offer end-to-end solutions to game publishers for secure digital distribution that also has the ability to support updates (read: episodic content). The company is hoping to offer its e-distribution services via retailers, portals, ISPs and cable operators.

“This acquisition, along with the formation of our new business unit, underscores Macrovision’s strategic focus to efficiently enable our customers to distribute their games both on and offline, “stated Fred Amoroso, president and CEO of Macrovision (pictured above). “Consumers today want to be able to get their game content when they want it, where they want it and that requires a distribution system that enables flexibility securely, while also protecting the content from massive unauthorized usage.”

Trymedia will be purchased for $34 million in a cash transaction which is expected to be completed by July 29, 2005.

Macrovision will discuss the acquisition in more detail at its investor and analyst call on August 1 at 5PM EST.

Trygames.com has more than 1,200 games though many of those titles are more casual in nature and like many of its e-distribution competitors, there are few “new” games with frontline pricing. In most publishers’ cases, e-distribution is analagous to the home video channel for the motion picture industry. It’s where you put your product when it’s largely done selling at retail (or its selling at retail at greatly reduced SRPs). Hopefully a company that’s focusing solely on games e-distribution (as Valve’s Steam has and Macrovision’s new unit is promising to) will reverse this trend and more meaningful titles and revenues will come from the sector.