At E3 2011, GamersGate announced that it would be offering free video games in exchange for advertisement views. Players could download a game for free but, prior to playing it, would have to watch a short advertisement selected by GamersGate's advertising partner, Blind Ferret Media. Advertisements would not be inserted during gameplay. The new program, called "FreeGames", was set for beta release in mid-June 2011. Interest among gamers was so high that 10 thousand beta signups were made within the first few hours. The official start of the program was intended to be 1 September 2011 and to offer some 200 games. GamersGate CEO Theo Bergquist stated that the company's long-term goal was to offer as many of its 3000 games as possible under the FreeGames program. Bergquist's claims that this was the first program of its kind were refuted by "Shacknews"' Alice O'Conner, who pointed to a similar failed experiment by Ubisoft in 2007. However, in the following weeks GamersGate's beta run proved to be a success.