Viacom buys Xfire for $102 Million

Viacom has announced that they are buying popular gaming instant messaging company, XFire for $102 million.

Xfire has approximately 4 million users. The skinninable instant messenger client allows people to easily find other gamers of a particular game to interact with, play against, etc.  Viacom has said that their reason for purchasing is to expand their on-line reach and help build their digital portfolio.

"It's a wonderful component of our overall digital strategy, particularly on the gaming front," Viacom Chief Executive Tom Freston told Reuters. "Our key audiences are and probably will remain kids, teens, young adults -- we want to be anywhere these audiences are."