online games
In Virtual Play, Sex Harassment Is All Too Real
www.nytimes.com
The world of online games has long been characterized by name-calling and trash talk, especially directed against women, but some recent episodes have prompted calls for change. Read more »...
Blizzard hacked, the second time since May
venturebeat.com
Game publisher Blizzard was hacked this week, as discovered by the security team, which Blizzard says is currently working with law enforcement to figure out who is behind the breach. “Even when you are in the business of fun, not every week ends up being fun,” said Blizzard co-founder Mike...
Zynga Posts Loss, Stock Plunges 39%
online.wsj.com
Zynga posted a second-quarter loss despite rising revenue, and the online-games provider lowered its full-year outlook, driving its share price lower in after-hours trading....
Facebook now allows adult UK users to play games for real money - Gamesys first to App Center with 'Bingo Friendzy'
thenextweb.com
UK-based online gambling holding Gamesys has launched a new Facebook app called ‘Bingo Friendzy’, the first to hit the social network’s App Center that lets UK users aged 18 and over to play an online games for real cash prizes. We knew this was coming, but now the wait is...
Facebook now allows adult UK users to play games for real money - Gamesys first to App Center with 'Bingo Friendzy'
Kabam acquires indie maker of Realm of the Mad God web game (exclusive)
venturebeat.com
Kabam has acquired Wild Shadow Studios, the maker of popular online combat game Realm of the Mad God. The deal shows that Kabam, a maker of hardcore social online games, continues its quest to pick up titles that are played by hardcore gamers regardless of platform. Terms of the deal...
Overwolf opens its in-game app store to publishers and code-savvy gamers
venturebeat.com
Gaming startup Overwolf is launching an in-game app store that allows players to contribute their own virtual items to their favorite titles while giving publishers the opportunity to make virtual-transaction revenue from existing releases. The new offering from the Tel Aviv-based company provides a novel way to retrofit existing games so...
Zynga hires lobbyists to push its message on Capitol Hill
thenextweb.com
Following growing political spending by the like Google, Facebook and others, Zynga has hired two lobbying firms, the National Journal reports, to help spread its message on Capitol Hill. The company has hired lobbyists from Peck, Madigan, Jones & Stewart, and Bay Bridge Strategies. According to the Sunlight Foundation, the two firms are “interconnected”...
Third Party Apps Test Social Commerce Waters On Facebook
www.readwriteweb.com
Snoop Dogg is the first to use a new service to Make Money Money on Facebook. MarketPage launched last Friday as a way for celebrities to allow retailers access to their fan base to sell products. Merchants who sell on the Snooper Market using MarketPage are essentially getting a Facebook...
Free-to-play games on Xbox 360? It could happen sooner than you think
venturebeat.com
Is Microsoft getting ready to bring free-to-play (F2P) online games to the Xbox 360? At least two developers are currently in talks with the company, GamesBeat has learned. “There hasn’t been a hi-res free-to-play game on the console yet, and we still don’t have any definite announcements or dates, but we’re...
Live from E3: Microsoft Xbox Event
allthingsd.com
In just a few minutes Microsoft will take the stage at this week’s E3 video game conference in downtown Los Angeles. The software maker first introduced its Xbox 360 gaming console seven years ago, and it hasn’t been refreshed since — the longest console cycle for any company in the...
Amazon Game Connect links free-to-play, MMO games to store accounts, turns 1-Click into way too many
www.engadget.com
Amazon must have a lot of free time for gaming during its summer vacation: just a day after unveiling GameCircle as a cloud infrastructure, it's trotting out Game Connect to make buying game content that much easier. Once it's integrated into a title, the new platform will let customers...
Amazon Game Connect links free-to-play, MMO games to store accounts, turns 1-Click into way too many
paidContent 50: 6 big takeaways from this year's list
paidcontent.org
So what does our second-annual paidContent 50 list of the most-successful companies in digital content say about the state of the business in 2012? Here are six things that struck us: 1. You’ve come a long way, baby The paidContent 50 collectively are generating $150-billion-a-year in digital revenue. That number is impressive,...
General Mark Zuckerberg, Reporting for Duty
bits.blogs.nytimes.com
Can Mark Zuckerberg's leadership skills be partially attributed to his penchant for playing online games that involve conquering virtual worlds....
Valve's Comprehensive Strategy Shows How To Go From Fee To Free... And Increase Revenue Twelve-fold
www.techdirt.com
We've writen about Valve's approach to the market many times before. The company believes strongly that "piracy" is a service problem not a legal problem. It knows that it can easily compete with piracy by offering a better service, something that it regularly succeeds in doing. However, On The Media...
Even Old Media Institutions Are Acting Like New Media
www.theatlantic.com
60 Minutes has online games. The Wall Street Journal and The Times produce hours of video per day. Legacy publications have embraced social media. ...
Xbox Users Clocking More Hours Gobbling Media Than Gaming Online
allthingsd.com
Microsoft’s Xbox is no longer just for hardcore gamers, but rather is beginning to attract a more general audience looking to consume movies, TV and music online. The Redmond, Wash.-based company said today that for the first time, Xbox Live users are now watching more movies and TV and listening to...
Scalify raises $2M to build networking for better online game worlds
venturebeat.com
Australian start-up Scalify has raised $2 million in venture funding so that it can create networking technology that enables the fast and efficient creation of online games and virtual worlds. Australian venture firm Starfish Ventures led the investment in Melbourne, Australia-based Scalify, which has created Badumna, a technology that...
How AT&T & Verizon Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Data Hogs
www.readwriteweb.com
If you can't beat 'em, charge 'em: Not long ago, AT&T execs criticized smartphone users as data hogs. Not anymore. With a series of new pricing plans, both AT&T and its archrival Verizon have decided that digital gluttony is good for business. The carriers themselves are looking like the hogs, only...
Facebook dealt out $1.4b to app developers in 2011, mostly to Zynga
www.theverge.com
It appears that the majority of Facebook's $1.4 billion paid out to app developers in 2011 has ended up in the pockets of Zynga. This week at the Games Developers Conference, Facebook's games product manager Matt Wyndowe trumpeted how much Facebook app creators had earned on the platform, a...
Valve launches Greenlight to let community decide which games get released on Steam
thenextweb.com
Over the past few years, Valve’s Steam platform has become the gold standard of online games marketplaces. Now, the company is launching Steam Greenlight, a new system that will allow the platform’s users to vote for games that they want to see released for purchase there. The system is simple,...
Guffaws and awkward laughter: game devs react to Indie Game: The Movie
arstechnica.com
Before the showing started, the screening room was a bustle of activity, with attendees shaking hands and hugging colleagues they might not have seen since the last Game Developers Conference. Looking around, it was easy to spot developers handing around laptops, mobile phones, and tablets to show off the...
Booting Up: Meditating to a Poster of Tim Ferriss Edition
betabeat.com
(Photo: Virtual Business Lifestyle) Apple has won an injunction against Samsung, preventing the company from selling its biggest Android tablet. [AllThingsD] A day in the life of a startup founder: “Shower and then spiritual time. I have a small shrine set up that allows me to focus on the important....
Spill Games Unlocks the Secrets of Reaching Tween Girl Gamers
pandodaily.com
It turns out, tween girls are spending more and more time playing online games and become very engaged with the associated brands and communities as they do. For those looking to reach this demographic and reach into the pockets of their parents, there’s few better opportunities to capture their undivided attention. Spil...
Microsoft says Xbox used more for movies and music than online games
www.geekwire.com
If you needed any more evidence that Microsoft views the Xbox 360 as a key weapon in its fight to control the living room, take a look at this fascinating factoid. The company now says that more people use the device to watch movies and listen to music online than...
Online Game Developer Shanda Gets $2.3 Billion Buy-Out
paidcontent.org
Shareholders in big Chinese online game developer Shanda Interactive Entertainment (NSDQ: SNDA) have voted in favour of a proposal by which its CEO and his family will take over the company. Tianqiao Chen’s offer of $41.35 per ADS share values the company at about $2.3 billion and will remove...
ConsolidationVille Coming to Social Games Market in 2012
allthingsd.com
Even more social game consolidation is coming this year. And, here’s the reason why: There are hundreds of game companies competing on Facebook, and Zynga is single-handedly grabbing 15 percent of all the revenues. A report published by Digi-Capital, an investment bank focused on video games, says this year will be...
One Sony, 10,000 Layoffs
allthingsd.com
Sony CEO Kaz Hirai this morning announced the first step in his plan to restore the company to its former glory: sweeping layoffs and a broad restructuring. In his first news conference since becoming succeeding Howard Stringer as chief executive of Sony, Hirai confirmed the company will sack 10,000 employees...
Stealthy online game company Motiga scores $5.1 million
www.geekwire.com
Motiga, a stealthy Bellevue game developer led by former Trion Worlds Chief Stategy Officer Chris Chung, has raised $5.1 million. In addition to angel investors, South Korean online gaming companies Neowiz and Smilegate participated in the round. “We found that the game companies in Asia are generally more eager to...
Interesting Strategy: Rockstar Games To Dump Cheaters Into A Game Where They Only Play Other Cheaters
www.techdirt.com
Gamers who cheat are an issue that lots of online games have to deal with, though some are much more aggressive than others. In the past, we've argued that it's overkill to ban such players completely, especially when the "cheats" are really just exposing glitches or bugs in the game...
Interesting Strategy: Rockstar Games To Dump Cheaters Into A Game Where They Only Play Other Cheaters
Login online games conference moves to San Francisco
venturebeat.com
The Login online games conference has changed hands and is moving to San Francisco. Seda Balci (pictured), marketing and PR director at Peanut Labs, has independently purchased the conference and will move it to the Bay Area. The Login 2012 conference will take place at the Bentley Reserve in...
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