Curse Inc.

About Curse Inc.

Curse Inc. was a digital multimedia and technology company focused on the video game community, founded in 2006 by Hubert Thieblot. Thieblot, an avid "World of Warcraft" player, initially created a website to share and organize game modifications and add-ons for himself and his guild. As the site's traffic grew, he incorporated the hobby into a business. The company's name originated from Thieblot's "World of Warcraft" guild, which was one of the largest in Europe at the time.

The company operated a network of gaming-centric websites, including wikis, news, guides, and forums. Core products included the Curse Client, an add-on and modification management service for games like "World of Warcraft," "Minecraft," and "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim," and CurseForge, a hosting service for mods and add-ons. Another key offering was Curse Voice, a free Voice over IP (VoIP) and instant messaging platform designed for gamers, featuring an in-game overlay and automatic matchmaking with teammates. This platform was developed to provide secure and seamless communication without impacting game performance. The company also managed Gamepedia, a collection of over 1,000 gaming wikis.

Curse Inc.'s business model involved providing free tools and content to attract a large user base, which reached over 30 million monthly visitors by 2016. Revenue was generated through advertising on its network of sites and a premium subscription model that offered an ad-free experience and enhanced features. The company also sponsored a professional eSports team, Team Curse, which competed in "League of Legends." In August 2016, Curse was acquired by Twitch, a subsidiary of Amazon. Following the acquisition, Curse's assets were gradually integrated, sold, or spun off. In 2018, Curse Media, including Gamepedia, was acquired by Fandom. Subsequently, CurseForge was sold to Overwolf in 2020.