BSkyB launches gaming portal

BSkyB has launched a new gaming portal offering a range of PC games to download or play online.

Skygames.com is already stocked with over 100 titles, including casual stalwarts like Bejeweled 2 and Zuma and core titles like F.E.A.R. and Star Trek: Legacy.

Games cost between GBP 4.99 and GBP 29.99, with a monthly subscription option for GBP 6.00. A ten-day free trial option currently allows potential users to feel out the service before they commit.

The broad catalogue, which already takes in titles from Eidos and Vivendi, has been put together partly thanks to another division of News Corporation, BSkyB's owner, IGN Direct2Drive, which already offers a similar service.

Accounts created on the Skygames website can also be used to access a range of services on Sky's other web portals including Sky.com.

As well as attracting new customers, Sky hopes the portal will convert a number of its existing subscribers, having identified a large interest in the medium among users of its other services.