Web site: xfire.com | xf1re.com
Category: Network
Subcategory: Instant Messengers
Platform: Windows
License: Proprietary
Interface: GUI
Wikipedia: Xfire
First release: 2003
Xfire – an instant messaging app for gamers and others which lets you to communicate during gameplay. Xfire was originally developed by Ultimate Arena, based in Menlo Park, California.
You know what games your friends are playing and where. The program allows for text and voice communication. The application works with most online games, supporting hits such as Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2, Warcraft III, Age of Mythology, and many others. A list is available on the manufacturer’s website.
Features:
– Supports over 2,100 games.
– Instant messaging, including in-game chat and voice chat.
– Ability to chat with multiple users simultaneously.
– Ability to view your friend’s friends playing.
– Game time counter, calculated separately for each game and displayed in hours.
– Game statistics, currently available in the version for many FPS games.
– Useful server search engine for gamers.
– A system for tracking added friends, including the ability to join the game they are currently playing.
– Ability to download the latest free games and game-related files, including patches, mods, demos, and add-ons.
– Plugin support.
– Advanced graphical options, including skin support.
– Ability to check pings on different servers.
– Ability to create your own clan in the Xfire portal database. The system calculates the total play time for the week in the 10 favorite games the team is currently playing, and also adds all hours played for the entire clan community.
– Ability to create a forum or your own page, which can be used similarly to MySpace for posting news, etc.
– Ability to take screenshots of games detected by Xfire.
– Ability to record videos while playing.
– Ability to create live broadcasts.
– Ability to send files to friends.
– Browser for browsing the internet while playing.
On April 25, 2006, Xfire was acquired by Viacom. On August 2, 2010, Xfire was acquired by Titan Gaming, which subsequently laid off almost the entire team responsible for the messaging app (including the founders, lead developers, managers, etc.). Titan Gaming intends to merge the messaging app with its own platform to increase digital game sales.
On June 12, 2015, support for Xfire officially ended after 12 years. The entire service was shut down in 2016.
