Marking the shift from paid brick-and-mortar retailing to free digital gaming, US games retailer GameStop has announced it's buying gaming portal Kongregate for an undisclosed sum.

The deal, which will see Kongregator co-founders Jim and Emily Greer retain day-to-day control, makes Kongregate a GameStop subsidiary, giving the chain a vital foothold in the browser-based gaming market.

"We've had other companies interested in Kongregate in the past, but what we really liked about GameStop was the degree they really get what we're doing, and value it for what it is," stated CEO Jim Greer.

"They don't want to turn Kongregate into something else – they want to help us make it bigger and throw their resources behind it."

Congregating on Kongregate

Greer is billing this is a strategically important move for GameStop – adding he has been asked to report directly to GameStop CEO Paul Raines - and it would appear the retailing giant has killed two birds with one stone.

As well as its games aimed at desktop browsers, Kongregrate also has a finger in the Android pie, having launched a mobile site pitched at the OS to coincide with Flash's debut on the platform.

At the time, Greer commented that Kongregate Mobile would enable the sites 8,000 plus developers to make a move in the mobile market.

Now it would seem GameStop's buyout means the retail giant also has a vested interest in mobile gaming.

[source: Kongregate]