Games portal drops dotcom tag

European games portal Gameplay has dropped the dotcom from its name as it prepares to exploit next generation technologies, including interactive television and internet-enabled phones.

"We are not a dotcom," explained Steve Blackburn, online marketing director for Gameplay. "The web is vitally important to us, but it is only one channel of our business. The new technologies coming along will be equally, if not more, important."

Blackburn said that 26 per cent of Gameplay's sales turnover has come from Open TV since it launched on the service four months ago, making it double that from its internet business for the same period.

"The way interactive TV has taken off has taken us all by surprise," said Blackburn. "The medium is compelling and easy to use, while the internet is a static medium and will be until true broadband arrives."

Gameplay has interactive TV deals with NTL, Cable & Wireless and Telewest, all of which are due to go live in the near future, and has just signed up with French digital platform TPS (Television via Satellite) to appear on its shopping and gaming channels. BSkyB took a 10 per cent stake in Gameplay last September and is planning a Gameplay show on Sky One this summer.

On the Wap front, Gameplay has just negotiated a deal with a member of the Carphone Warehouse Group which will be announced soon, Blackburn confirmed. "Whether it's the web, TV or the telephone, we want to be the best games site going," he said.

To exploit specialised markets, Gameplay today announced that it has created a football micro-site for gamers and is looking to crack the more mature market with an interactive bridge site. There are three million regular bridge players in the UK alone.

Gameplay has also signed a deal with Excite UK to be the key games retailer on the portal's games channel.