GarageGames CEO Talks IAC Deal

Following today's announcement that Barry Diller's IAC has acquired a majority stake in GarageGames, CEO Josh Williams has been talking in depth about the company's funding agreement with IAC, alongside the soon-to-launch InstantAction.com, the new multiplayer game website GarageGames is building. As part of the agreement, IAC has acquired a majority of the equity at GG, while the original staff will still run the shop in its Eugene, OR location, where the long-running indie developer and engine firm (the pictured Marble Blast Ultra, Torque Engine) set up following the demise of prominent local developer Dynamix. Williams says the partnership and funding from the IAC will provide the resources to create "a new, better way to develop, distribute and play games online," and that the company has been at work on the technology "behind the scenes" for a couple of years. On InstantAction, GarageGames' web-based console, Williams explains, "InstantAction is a new place to play games. We're working on games here at GG and we're working with great indie studios of all kinds, from some of the biggest names in the industry to total unknowns with great ideas and the ability to get them done. We're building a bunch of great new games that focus squarely on being fun. They'll all be playable in the browser, and they'll be rich, core-oriented, and often multiplayer games." Williams notes that GarageGames has been historically hesitant to take on funding, but expressed that IAC's vision, entrepreneurship and compatible staff values made them a good fit. In addition, Williams reassured users of the company's existing PC and console-based standalone Torque engines, mentioning: "We're getting more done on Torque than we ever have before. As you've seen, we recently pushed out updates to TGB, TGEA, and TGE, while shipping Torque X and more. But all of this work pales in comparison to what we have to announce in the coming weeks for Torque, and the community here at GG." Though details are yet to be revealed, it's presumed that a browser-specific version of the Torque Engine or tools may be used to power some of the promised titles from InstantAction, which will feature "graphically rich, networked games to run in popular Web browsers with no download installation."