UK games portal becomes latest dotcom casualty
Internet games company BarrysWorld is to close after failing to convince investors to come up with a second round of funding.
The firm says it will be forced to close on February 5, unless a last-minute backer can be found.
The company - which claims to have a loyal customer base of 300,000 - has voluntarily put itself in the hands of insolvency firm Fisher Partners.
Chief executive Ade Brownlow said the business has been impacted by general uncertainty over dotcoms, despite evidence that the company was on track.
"Sadly BarrysWorld has been impacted by the state of the investment market," he said.
"Our own ability to raise funds has been crippled by the current depression in both the internet and games markets with the result that our main backers 3i are unwilling to fund the business further."
The site catered for the growing communities of UK gamers - with dedicated arenas for Counter Strike, Quake and Half Life aficionados to do battle online.
Although subscription-free, BarrysWorld had developed several fee-paying services it says were profitable - including one enabling gaming clans to book servers for their own tournaments.
