• by Shankar Gupta , April 27, 2006

Gaming magazine and Web site publisher IDG Entertainment and Best Buy Electronics have entered into a distribution deal that involves syndicating content from GamePro--IDG's flagship gaming property--to Best Buy's Web site, the companies will announce today. As part of the deal, IDG also is including links to Best Buy for games and accessories reviewed on GamePro.com.

"Having Best Buy as a partner is just another way to interact with the consumer," said IDG Entertainment CEO Daniel Orum. An additional component of the deal involves IDG producing regular special issues of the GamePro print magazine, dubbed "Level 2," for sale only in Best Buy stores, with co-branding, coupons, and special content focused on Best Buy's bigger sellers and newer titles.

The companies have also set up a co-branded Web site, Lvl-2.com, which allows customers to subscribe to the special edition magazine online, and offers a free newsletter. Also as part of the deal, BestBuy.com becomes GamePro.com's exclusive retailer, with all "Buy This" links on the gaming site leading to product pages on BestBuy.com. On its product pages, Best Buy will be featuring reviews, media, and screen shots taken from GamePro.com.

The first issue of GamePro Level 2 was released earlier this month, and the release of the second is set to coincide with the E3 developer's conference on May 9.