Short answers, pulled from the story.
GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games, founded in 1995 by Mark Surfas. Its technology enabled online functionality in over 300 PC and console games, and by 2014 its services had been used by over 800 video game publishers and developers.
GameSpy was founded by Mark Surfas, who had built PlanetQuake as a hosting and news site for Quake mods. He licensed a server-browsing tool called QSpy, created by Joe Powell, Tim Cook, and Jack Matthews of Spy Software, and in 1997 incorporated GameSpy Industries to commercialize the technology.
GameSpy's multiplayer service shut down on the 31st of May 2014. Glu Mobile, which had acquired GameSpy Industries in August 2012, announced the closure in April 2014 so its developers could focus on Glu's own services.
Electronic Arts announced 24 PC games would lose online functionality, including Battlefield 2, the Crysis series, Saints Row 2, and the Star Wars: Battlefront series. Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection platform for DS and Wii games also relied on GameSpy servers and was not migrated to a replacement.
Fan-created mods restored online play for some games on alternative servers. Bungie officially incorporated a fan mod restoring Halo PC's multiplayer in a patch released in May 2014, and fans launched Wiimmfi, a continuation of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, 10 days before the shutdown.
The GameSpy Debriefings was a podcast featuring GameSpy and IGN Entertainment editors discussing gaming news, ranking 25th in the Games and Hobbies category on iTunes as of the 1st of May 2011. It ended on the 30th of July 2011, after which the crew launched The Comedy Button, which ran to 550 episodes.