Rightside is launching its .Games gTLD this week, using the EAP approach of tiered pricing.
In other words, prices start high, at about $11,000 dollars and get lower as we approach General Availability day.
The .Games gTLD has been anticipated by – you guessed it – gamers around the world, and games studios. Even domainers say they’d register one or more, as speculation in domains doesn’t hurt. 😀
In recent days, Rightside has unleashed a barrage of informational content regarding its .Games launch.
That’s the right approach!
When comparing the value of a two word .com with “games” as the second word, versus a keyword .Games domain, which one is better?
Take, for example, MathGames.com, not your typical parked domain, but rather, a business in the education field.
Formed by domain industry entrepreneur, Bill Karamouzis (Bill Kara for short,) MathGames.com educates kids of all ages presenting them with the joy of math, by using fun games that stimulate the mind.
Bill Karamouzis acquired the domain MathGames.com in 2013, for an astounding $725,000 dollars.
He had a business plan in mind.
Meanwhile, the domain Math.Games has been pre-sold by Rightside, as part of a private allocation of ultra-premium .Games domains. Many interested parties placed inquiries and some have already been sold.
Math.Games was acquired by domain investor, Chad Wright, and it’s currently parked.
There has been no disclosure on the exact selling price, which we’d estimate at high five figures or very low six figures.
The issue with gTLD domains is that they must make sense as a keyword+gTLD combination, in order to deliver SEO value and retain an intrinsic meaning. In the case of Math.Games this is true.
Does MathGames.com find itself in a position to lose traffic to the gTLD variant?
For now, as there is nothing built on Math.Games, this is highly unlikely. Decades of direct type-in behavior by millions of online users would actually steer traffic to the .com.
To compete with MathGames.com, Chad Wright’s acquisition of a domain would have to be expertly developed and promoted, both by spending money on Google AdWords and by raising public awareness.
As with all brands relying on gTLD domains, the importance of understanding the market is paramount.
Good luck to Rightside and .Games, they also have an auction of .Games and .Live domains currently.
