Great, you may think. Games for nothing (and chips for free). And for you pure gamers out there, then yup, I guess it is great. But I want to issue a warning to any of you who intend to invest in gaming stocks (as, of course, Freeloader intends to float on the stock market very soon indeed), and I will put this as starkly as I can. DEAD WOODCHUCK. DEAD WOODCHUCK. AVOID THIS COMPANY LIKE THE PLAGUE. BARGE POLE TIME. STAY WELL CLEAR. Yes, this company is so bad from an investment point of view that it should carry a health warning. In the recent market adjustments, even serious, profitable, 'worthwhile' stocks including EA, Microsoft and Oracle have been dumped. I shudder to think how low this one could go.
But let's not get hasty, let's wheel out some facts. Firstly, what makes it good for gamers is precisely what makes it bad for investors. They intend to give away product that they will have to pay a licensing fee for completely fee. Yes, you can see that red ink spreading already. Their business plans talk vaguely of attracting visitors first of all and then of harnessing this user throughput to maximize profit for partner companies. Translated, this means that they intend to carry ad banners and also to provide links to sites where new games by the people who supply Freeloader can be bought. The site will then take a cut from the transaction. Hardly new, is it? And judging by the failure of other sites who have tried this (www.boo.com anyone?) it is hardly likely to be successful.
Secondly, they have already shown themselves to be inept in the all-important advertising stakes, judging by the woeful reader ratings for their new print ads. There is nothing striking about these ads showing people cheating their bosses by playing games during work time. Indeed, they even seem to deprive the exercise of all its nervous excitement.
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