By Adam Donnelly

Kamloops man developing new app for online gamers

Nov 4, 2016 | 3:33 PM

KAMLOOPS — With over a billion users, Facebook is huge social media network, used to connect friends, family, and acquaintances from all over the world.  It’s estimated there are almost that many people who participate in some kind of online gaming; whether it’s on a console, on their mobile device, or on their personal computer. There’s a Kamloops man trying to start a social network for those gamers, which he’s hoping will connect those gamers with people around the globe who share the same passion.

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The online gaming community is huge, made up nearly a billion players, many willing to spend hundreds of dollars on their favourite games.

“The group I’m a part of, we have 1200 people,” Gamer and app developer Daryl Smeeton told CFJC Today. “That’s one group of 25 million [gamers], and every one of those 25 million is part of an organized group.”

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Smeeton is a 25-year-old Kamloops resident, who was looking for a way to connect with other members in his circle of gaming friends.

“We kind of looked through the app store, and we couldn’t find an app to do what we wanted it to do,” Smeeton explained.

With his background in online marketing, Daryl decided to try and develop an app online gamers could use to connect with other gamers, around the world. So he came up with the idea for GuildBook, which allows gamers to communicate and coordinate with others within their gaming communities.

“It’s basically for people who play together every night,” Smeeton said. “[For these players] there’s no way to communicate… until they get online,” adding “this gives people the ability to stay connected.”

Dave Carmichael runs Funny Pages collectables, which specializes in used videos games from the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000s. He says there’s a solid percentage of the population who enjoy some kind of video game.

Carmichael estimates around of a quarter of the population plays some kind of game. He says the people playing video games is a diverse group, spanning several different generations

“It’s across the board,” Carmichael explained. “There’s lots of people in their 50’s, looking for this to reacquaint themselves with their past, but also to buy [video games[ for their kids.”

Daryl didn’t want to show any images of his app, which is still under construction. He’s a little worried it could affect the “hype” in the run up to the release, which is expected in early 2017. He is confident in the ability of his product to make it easier to play online games with people who share the same passion.

“Nobody else has done this,” Smeeton said. “Nobody else has put together a system like this in an app… Where ever it goes, I’ll be happy with, because I know for our group it’s going to wonders for us.”