World of Warcraft’s more than 11.5 million paying subscribers are spread all over the world, but it’s not easy to find them. That’s why WoWPals.net was formed. It’s a location-based social network that lets you find fellow World of Warcraft fans near you. The service lets players hook up with other local players, form local communities, find recruits for teams of players known as guilds, and share WoW updates via Twitter. The site is in its alpha testing stage now and hopes to move to a beta test by the end of the year.
WoWPals is owned by GamersFlux, a Yehud, Israel-based startup founded by two 23-year-old gamers: Nadav Har Tzvi and Danny Tsechansky. They started work on the service in April, 2009, and it went live earlier this month in a public alpha test.
It’s one of many social networks for gamers that have sprung up in the past couple of years. There are big rivals such as Rupture, which was acquired by Electronic Arts, and Raptr, a well-financed gamers social network founded by serial entrepreneur Dennis Fong.
But Tsechansky says the service is unique because it incorporates location-based information. On top of that, WoWPals.net is obviously going for the hardcore fans of one game rather than players who play a lot of different games. The strategy isn’t unheard of, as others such as the makers of TweetCraft have also staked their business on appealing to WoW fans.
The company is self-funded. It is looking for a new round of investors. This enterprise is going to succeed or fail based on how well it can tailor useful services that the hardcore fans feel like they can’t get through the game itself.
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