Xfire (pronounced X fire) is a freeware instant messaging service targeted at gamers, that also serves as a game server browser and has various other features. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows. Xfire was originally developed by Ultimate Arena based in Menlo Park, California, Yahoo! filed a lawsuit against Xfire, Inc. on January 28, 2005, claiming Xfire has infringed Yahoo!'s U.S. Patent No. 6,699,125, for a "Game server for use in connection with a messenger server". Xfire, Inc. filed a countersuit against Yahoo! on March 10, 2005. The countersuit was eventually disqualified by the judge. There has been a settlement between the companies as of January 31, 2006. More details were posted to Xfire's forums, though terms were not disclosed.


Features


Game Detection

Xfire features the ability to detect the video game a particular contact is running. By analyzing running processes, Xfire can detect active games and send that information to Xfire clients with the current player as a friend. For many games, it can also detect which server people are playing on, the level which is running and ping times. Some games may be joined instantly. Xfire logs what games users are playing, how many hours they have played them, and saves other information (such as scores) from game servers. This information can be converted into a PNG image by the server via PHP for every user to use as a signature.

Instant messages

Xfire also includes the support for sending and receiving instant messages from inside a game in fullscreen mode, eliminating the need to minimize the game window. Users can also send in-game messages to other players without joining the game. Users are also able to see what games their friends are playing.

Voice chat

With version 1.43, released August 2005, Xfire, Inc. added a beta voice chat feature using Voice over IP technology, similar to, among others, TeamSpeak, Ventrilo, GameStreet Talk, etc.

Screenshots and videos

Xfire has the ability to take screenshots in game and save them to a specified folder, though this only works with Xfire In-Game-supported games, unlike Fraps. A user can take as many in-game screen shots as they want. Once the user exits their game, Xfire will load all of their screenshots in a window, where the user can then select all of the screen shots that they want to upload to their Xfire profile page. Users can also give each screenshot a caption. However, there are some games that are not compatible with Xfire In-Game.

Xfire has the ability to record video in-game. However, it has a significant impact on performance.

SDK

The Xfire Game SDK was released with version 1.56 (May 2006). It offers game developers an interface to expose some of the game data to the Xfire application. This is not compatible with some games, just like the Screenshot feature.

Clan and guild system

In version 1.63, Xfire released a beta clan system. This allowed users to create clans or guilds on the Xfire website and invite members (recruits can also ask to join). Many other features were also associated with this such as setting up ranks, favorite games and the number of hours everyone has been playing. With version 1.85, the Clans & Guilds system was officially released.

Live Video (Broadcasting)

Xfire added a video streaming feature in version 1.97. This feature is still in the Alpha phase, and a broadcast must be viewed using a web browser plugin, unfortunately only supporting Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox at the present time. It lets anyone watch a live feed of a user's screen while they are playing a game. When a user begins a stream, it opens up a chatroom which anyone who is watching your live feed can join.