GameSync Game Data Importer

Build a game database, a review site or a “what I’m playing” page in minutes. com — description, storyline, rating, release date, platforms, genres, developer and publisher, cover art, screenshots and trailers — into your own WordPress site as a Game post type. Search for a game, click Import, and you have a finished game page.

Everything is free, with no license key, no time limit and no usage limit.

Import

• Search & Import — search IGDB by name from the WordPress admin and import a game with one click.

• Import by List — paste game names, IGDB IDs, IGDB links or Steam store links, check what each line matched, and import up to 200 games in one run.

• Bulk Import — filter by platform, genre, minimum rating and release year, preview the matches, then import up to 500 games in one batched run.

• Scheduled Imports — save a Bulk Import filter as a recurring background task (“5 games every 6 hours”, say). Each run skips games you already have, so a task keeps finding new matches.

• Cover art and screenshots go into your Media Library (the cover becomes the featured image), or link to IGDB’s own image server if you prefer not to store them.

• Add games IGDB doesn’t have by hand. Every field can be edited, and manual games are never touched by a re-sync.

• Setup guide — a short guided screen walks you through creating the free Twitch app, pasting the credentials, testing the connection and importing your first game.

• Demo Content — one click adds fictional demo games with placeholder art (no API keys needed), so you can preview a full site first.

Keep games up to date

• Re-sync any game with one click. Fields you edited by hand are left as you wrote them.

• Choose fields to re-sync — see what you have next to what IGDB has now, and update only the fields you tick.

• Scheduled re-sync — refresh the games you already imported in the background, every week or every month, a few at a time.

• Change history — an “Updated” badge in the Games list, a list of what changed on each game, and a Dashboard widget showing which ratings, dates or platforms moved this week.

• Last synced column and a Site Health test that warns you when games are going stale or the IGDB connection stops working.

• Import Log — see what each import did and why anything failed, and retry failed imports with one click.

Show your games

• Game library block — a grid with a search box and platform and genre filters that update without reloading the page. It also works without JavaScript, and every filtered view has its own shareable address.

• Game card, Game grid and Release calendar blocks — show a game, a grid or ranked list of games (top rated, recently added), or upcoming and just-released games.

• Game details, Screenshots, Trailers, Similar games and Store links blocks — put any part of a game anywhere: on a game page, in a Query Loop, in a Site Editor template or on a page about one game.

• Browse, More from this franchise or developer, Game of the day, This day in gaming, Game links, Age ratings and Game search blocks for sidebars and landing pages.

• Member features for block themes — Favorite button, Member status (Want to play, Playing, Completed) and My games blocks. Visitors who are logged in save favorites and track games, and see their own lists on a page you make.

• Live search suggestions — the Game search block, and any Search block with the extra CSS class ggdi-live-search, show matching games with cover, title and year as the visitor types.

• Block patterns — ready-made layouts under Patterns -> Games, including a complete game page, Top 10 games, Game library, Upcoming releases and Now playing.

• Works with core blocks — a Block Bindings source (WordPress 6.5+) and a “Games” Query Loop variation, so you can build your own layouts with core blocks.

• Block themes and classic themes — game pages use your theme’s header, footer and layout, and the template can be overridden in your theme.

• Search-engine markup — game pages carry schema.org VideoGame data (name, image, release date, genres, platforms, developer, publisher, rating and screenshots).

Write about games

• Posts and games linked — choose the game in a review post’s sidebar, show it in the post, and list the posts about a game on its page. The Games panel suggests games from your library that are named in the post.

• My collection — mark a game as Playing, Completed, Backlog, Wishlist or Dropped and give it your own score out of 10, with Quick Edit and Bulk Edit in the Games list. Use it for “Now playing” and “My top rated” lists and a Collection stats block. Imports never touch these fields.

For developers

• Shortcodes for every block, for example [ggdi_game id="123"], [ggdi_games count="8" columns="4" orderby="date"] and [ggdi_releases mode="upcoming" count="10"].

• WP-CLI — wp ggdi import, wp ggdi bulk, wp ggdi resync, wp ggdi status, wp ggdi test and wp ggdi scheduled list|run.

• Filters such as ggdi_output_schema and ggdi_schema_data, a theme-overridable single game template, and taxonomies for Platforms, Genres, Game Modes, Themes, Player Perspectives, Companies and Franchises.

• Themes & Add-ons — a screen listing the free GameSync themes and the Game Ratings, Related Games and Review Breakdown plugins, with download links and an activate button.

Getting your IGDB / Twitch API credentials

IGDB’s API is provided through Twitch, so you’ll need a free Twitch developer app:

• Log in at dev.twitch.tv/console/apps with a Twitch account.

• Click Register Your Application, give it any unique name, set the OAuth Redirect URL to https://localhost (required by the form, not actually used), and pick a Category such as “Application Integration”.

• Open the app, copy the Client ID, then click New Secret to generate and copy the Client Secret.

• Paste both into Game Data Importer -> Settings in your WordPress admin (or define GGDI_CLIENT_ID / GGDI_CLIENT_SECRET as constants in wp-config.php if you’d rather keep credentials out of the database).

Notes and limits

• IGDB enforces a rate limit of roughly 4 requests/second per API key; the plugin throttles its own requests and batches bulk imports to stay well within it.

• Bulk Import runs are capped at 500 games per run — run it again with different filters to keep going.

• Access tokens are cached and refreshed automatically.

• Deleting the plugin (Plugins -> Delete, not a plain Deactivate) removes its own saved settings, Scheduled Imports tasks/run log, and cached data, but never touches already-imported Game posts, their images, or the taxonomy terms attached to them.

This plugin is an independent, unofficial integration and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by IGDB or Twitch Interactive, Inc.

External services

This plugin connects to the following third-party services. IGDB and Twitch are required for its core “import game data” functionality — it will not contact either one until you enter your own API credentials and use a feature that needs them (searching, importing, or re-syncing a game; Demo Content never makes a real API call). The other two are used only when a visitor views a game page that shows a trailer or an image that is not stored on your site:

• IGDB’s game database API. When you search for a game, import one, or click Re-sync, the plugin sends your search term or the game’s IGDB ID to IGDB’s API and receives back the game data (name, description, ratings, platforms, genres, cover art and screenshot URLs, etc.) shown in this description. No data about your site, your visitors, or your other content is ever sent — only the search term or IGDB ID you’re actively looking up. See IGDB’s Content Policy and the Twitch Developer Services Agreement (IGDB’s API is provided through Twitch/dev.twitch.tv, so a Twitch developer account governs access to it).

• Twitch’s OAuth token service (id.twitch.tv). Your Client ID and Client Secret (entered under Game Data Importer -> Settings, or defined as constants in wp-config.php) are sent to Twitch to obtain and refresh the access token IGDB’s API requires. See the Twitch Developer Services Agreement linked above.

• YouTube (youtube.com, youtube-nocookie.com). When a game page, the Game card block or the Trailers block shows a game’s trailer, the visitor’s browser loads the video player from YouTube. Nothing is sent from your server, and the Trailers block uses YouTube’s privacy-enhanced domain. See YouTube’s Terms of Service and Google’s Privacy Policy.

• IGDB’s image server (images.igdb.com). Only if you choose “link to IGDB’s CDN” instead of downloading images into the Media Library: the visitor’s browser loads cover art and screenshots directly from IGDB. See IGDB’s Content Policy.