Kongregate, a community with a firm back bone made up of thousands upon thousands of free games, is about to get even more backing thanks to its recent fusion with gaming giant Gamestop. But will this unlikely pairing hurt the Kongregate gaming community more than it will help? And what exactly does this mean for your beloved local Gamestop?

Kongregate (or Kong for short) averages over 10 million active users with more than 23 million hours of logged game time a month, and puts forward games provided by eager young developers. Indie developers are supported by Kong not only in having a platform to present their wares to such a large community, but also by given a share in ad and transaction revenue. The owners Jim and Emily Greer wholeheartedly support this community, and do their best to give developers and gamers the best possible community for them. They also believe that Gamestop wholeheartedly support the Kong community as well.

Gamestop is best known as a traditional retail games outlet, with a trade system that keeps gamers coming back like crack addled fiends. However, their conquest of video games up until this point has only existed in the physical realm. With the tides quickly turning in favor of a more digital world, Gamestop saw it in their best interest to go about seeking a way to get their foot in the game. Kongregate was that foot.

Jim Greer, head of Kongregate, issued an announcement today to put their large community of gamers at ease in light of this buy out. Jim assured his following that nothing major will change, and that he and his current team will still continue to don their Captain ranks and run the site. He goes on to say that “GameStop likes us for who we are and is not looking to change Kongregate”. He insists that the only changes that will take place are Kong’s rise from beta to full fledged site, and that with Gamestop’s financial backing Kong will be able to improve the site at a faster pace.

What Gamestop is getting out of this deal is a large devoted online community of innovative new games that can potential help launch the gaming retailer giant into the forefront of digital publishing. Being at the helm of such an innovative community where games are created an uploaded everyday is a colossal advancement for a company that once had little to no online presence.

With a corporate giant in the video game world influencing indie game developers to provide their best works, both Kong and Gamestop will benefit. “It’s pretty darn likely your games will be seen by even more people, and will generate more money!”, exclaims Jim reassuringly.