Yahoo to Charge for Some Game Services

Seeking to capitalize on the millions who visit its game site, Yahoo Inc. is offering a fee-based service to players who want to set up private chat rooms or get early access to new games.

The site’s current slate of 80 games will continue to be free, but players must pay $7.95 a month for premium services such as voice chat, customized avatars and tournaments. Subscribers also can opt to pay $19.95 for three months or $59.95 a year.

Yahoo also is planning to roll out an online rental service for downloading full-scale personal computer games, said David Mandelbrot, vice president of Yahoo Entertainment.

Yahoo is working on fee-based services for music, movies and television shows as part of an overall corporate thrust to bolster its fee-based revenue from 22% to 50% by 2004.