Gamertell

Digital Praise, the company responsible for the music games Dance Praise and Guitar Praise , has announced a planned merger with Left Behind Games Inc, most well-known for games based on the Left Behind best-selling series of books.

The two companies have had a friendly working relationship in recent months, as in December 2009 Left Behind gave Digital Praise a no-interest short term loan of $50,000.

Left Behind CEO Troy Lyndon, in the company’s quarterly report, termed the merger “far more interesting than our quarterly results”  That could be because Left Behind Games reported a loss of $4.6 million in the quarter ending December 31, 2009.  Left Behind’s latest quarterly report also said finding a merger partner was a priority.

Fundamental to the company’s long-term business plan is bringing Christian-themed games to a more mainstream audience. Part of those efforts was an experiment with 100 Texas Walmart stores to test the Christian games market. Those stores sold Left Behind PC products including releases that were as much as three years old.

Left Behind declared the Walmart experiment a success and Lyndon released a statement saying the company plans to bring games to the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360. The new company formed from the merger will be called Inspired Media Entertainment.

CNN Money spoke to Wedbush Morgan Research Analyst Michael Pachter, who weighed in on the merger and the potential for Christian games in the current marketplace.

“I think that the Christian video game market is a significant market currently underserved by traditional publishers. This merger will allow Left Behind Games to be well positioned to serve the millions of people of faith that enjoy Christian entertainment.”

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