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OnLive Expands into Belgium as Belgacom Takes 2.6% Stake

Posted May 17, 2010 by M.H. Williams

Today, OnLive announced that they will be bringing their OnLive on-demand gaming service to Belgium and Luxembourg, thanks to a partnership with Belgacom Group. Belgacom is Belgium’s largest broadband operator and has made an investment in OnLive, taking a 2.6% shareholding in the company. This puts Belgacom in the same pool of shareholders as Warner Bros, AT&T, UK’s BT, Autodesk, and Maverick Capital.

“This agreement perfectly meets the strategic objectives of Belgacom to maintain leadership in innovative and convergent products and services as the partnership with OnLive will contribute to and enhance our interactive entertainment offering with new exclusive service,” said Belgacom CEO Didier Bellens. “We are particularly enthusiastic to work together with OnLive’s seasoned management team and bring digital entertainment in a new and unique way to our customers. We are convinced that our strategic partnership with OnLive will be constructive, fruitful and visionary”.

“OnLive is delighted to expand its European reach into Belgium and Luxembourg in partnership with Belgacom. Belgacom is already a pioneer in online media services and it is extremely well-positioned to distribute the OnLive Game Service through its advanced broadband network,” said OnLive CEO Steve Perlman. “Belgacom-connected OnLive gamers will not only be able play with OnLive gamers throughout Europe, but they will be able to watch other OnLive gamer  across the globe play games. OnLive is ushering in an entirely new era in entertainment and we are very excited to be partnering with Belgacom as we expand into Europe.”

The partnership will give Belgacom the exclusive right to bundle OnLive with their existing broadband services, though customers in those regions will still retain the option of ordering OnLive directly though their normal ISP. This follows last week’s news that Britain’s BT has also acquired exclusive rights to bundle OnLive with their services in the United Kindgom. OnLive says they’ll be sharing more information and details on their European rollout as they prepare for their launch in the U.S. this summer.

M.H. Williams has been writing in some form or another for ten years and has been a hardcore gamer since the NES first graced American shores.  You can catch him on Twitter as @AutomaticZen, Google+ as himself, or on his personal Facebook page.