Archive for July, 2010

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Playdom, Harrah’s bring official Poker to Facebook

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Fresh off their Disney acquisition, Playdom has announced a partnership with Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment to bring the Official World Series of Poker game to Facebook and other social networks.

WSOP

“We are very excited to bring the thrill and excitement of the World Series of Poker to the social gaming space with Playdom,” says WSOP VP Craig Abrahams. “We will immediately start to work on enhancing the game, bringing unique WSOP promotions and sweepstakes into the offering and ensuring that the battle for WSOP virtual championship bracelets can become a Facebook-friendly endeavor.”

“There is only one brand in poker that stands out and that is the World Series of Poker,” said Sean Phinney, VP of Business Development for Playdom. “We think big brands will win on social networks and we are excited to start working together to create a unique and fun social gaming experience.”

Obviously, a deal like this was in the works before the Disney acquisition (the press release refers to Playdom being “privately held”), but Uncle Walt now having a link to online gambling could prove to be interesting down the road. Perhaps we’ll even find Epic Mickey at the craps table?

At it’s core, the World Series of Poker gma is nothing more than a rebranded version of Playdom’s own Poker Palace, but now with the official Harrah’s stamp of approval. Currently, Poker Palace boasts around half a million monthly users, with an average of 60,000 active daily users. Moving forward, Playdom will update the title with input from Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment branch. Future developments include a variety of various poker-based offerings including single table and tournaments with both full-table and short- handed play. Players will pony up with what Harrah’s is dubbing “play money” (expect this to change soon).

All in all, Playdom/Disney’s investment in online poker might be arriving at just the right time, as the NYTimes recently reported that the House Financial Services Committee approved a bill that (more or less) legalizes online poked and other non-sports related betting, effectively overturning a 2006 ban.

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Gameloft posts 33.6 million EUR Q2 Sales figures – up 15%

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Paris, France based Gameloft posted their Q2 numbers yesterday, achieving consolidated sales of 33.6 million EUR, or roughly 43.8 million USD. This figure represents a 15 percent growth YoY. As expected, the majority of Gameloft’s revenue is derived from the European and North American markets.

gameloft_logo

When compared to the previous year, Gameloft is “up” on all accounts. Q1 2009 saw 30.8 m EUR, while Q1 2010, 33 million EUR, representing a 7 percent growth. Likewise, when combined, Q’s 1 and 2 of 2009 totaled 60.1 million in revenue, 2010, 66.6 million, and 11 percent increase.

When looking for the secret to their success, Gameloft is quick to point out that traditional Java and Brew based phones, as well as the massive global adoption of smartphones as key factors. Naturally, Apple’s iPhone comes to mind, and Gameloft has positioned itself as THE premier games publisher for the iPhone and iPad, reflected in their AppStore growth of 113 percent during Q2 2010.

Looking beyond just the iPhone, Gameloft believes new technologies from Samsung, Nokia, and Google will continue to sustain this growth. They’re also looking very closely at what potential the iPad holds for their future endeavors. Adding to this projected growth and profitability, the company is in an ideal position to benefit from the rapidly developing digital distribution channels including phones, tablets, and console systems.

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Add another brick to the Free to Play wall – EverQuest II Extended

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

In the latest “move your old(er) title over to free to play and reap the financial rewards,” move, SOE has announced that their long running EverQuest II title is now going this route. However, this isn’t just your standard “flip it” conversion, as Sony Online Entertainment announced that EverQuest II Extended will be released via Sony’s new “free adventure service.”

everquest2-logoIt looks like Sony has finally adopted an idea I through out there a long time ago – parallel servers. Meaning, the EverQuest II Extended title will operate alongside the EverQuest II subscription model, thereby giving players the choice if they want to pay for a subscription, or pay piece by piece, i.e. free-to-play and microtransactions.

“As the digital entertainment market evolves, SOE is focused on continued innovation in content delivery that best fit the needs of the growing consumer base,” said Sony Online Entertainment President, John Smedley. “Our goal with Extended is to offer players an alternative to our current subscription program that gives them the option to choose a program that best fits their play style.”

And it’s not just the game that’s getting new options. Players will now have access to download the application via a completely revamped web-based interface, thus providing players with (almost) instant access to the game, foregoing the extended client download and installation.

“The very nature of an MMO is change, and the decision to create Extended was fueled by evolution of the industry landscape,” said EverQuest II Producer, David Georgeson. “By offering two services side by side we have given the power to our players to determine the program that best fits their game play style.”

Extended players can access all areas of the game up to and including The Shadow Odyssey, the 5th expansion pack in the series. Additional armor, classes, races, weapons, mounts, etc. will be available via the standard in game item shop.

Adding to the “nice!” factor, EverQuest II has recently undergone a user-interface upgrade that’s designed to improve game navigation and functionality. Also featuring a new and improved character progressions throughout the game, players are sure to appreciate the updated graphics and “Storyteller” adventure journal that visually displays quest details.

The EverQuest II free-to-play kickoff is scheduled on or around the 17th of August. For more info, please visit eq2extended.com.

No further details were included about Sony’s “free adventure service,” but something tells me, this isn’t the last we’ve heard of it. In fact, if you think about the number of older titles that Sony could very easily integrate into this service…well, let’s just say that’s a whole lotta new users, as well as a boatload of additional new revenue Sony could tap via microtransactions. Let’s keep an eye on this one and see where it goes.

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Changyou sees 17 percent increase in Q2 YOY revenues

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Chinese gaming firm Changyou announced their financial results yesterday, touting a 17 percent increase in Q2 revenues YOY, generating $77.7 million.

header-girlChangyou reports that this $77.7 million is a record setting performance quarter, alos indicating an 8 percent annual revenues growth when compared to 2009. This figure is also on the high end of the group’s estimates. If their crystal ball holds true, the company is projecting an increase, up to $80-$83 million in Q3 2010 revenues.

Known for their popular free-to-play titles Tian Long Ba Bu, or Dragon Oath as it’s known in North America, and Zhong Hua Ying Xiong, Changyou attributes most of it’s success to the former. Tian Long Ba Bu helped drive the companies’ revenues to the tune of $75.6 million, indicated a further increase of 8 percent per quarter, and 16 percent YOY. Looking beyond their own borders, Changyou points to regional expansion as an additional boost in revenues. “Increased momentum,” in Vietnam and Malaysia in particular. In total, foreign licensing of Changyou’s titles accounted for $2.1 million, a growth of 15 percent over Q2 2009, and a healthy 29 percent increase YOY.

And where is this revenue coming from? When viewing Changyou’s user base, it’s clear to see that they’re on to something, as the company reports a 12 percent increase QOQ and a 42 percent YOY increase in registered accounts. Just shy of 100 million registered users, 98.2, Changyou’s paying accounts jumped 17 percent in Q2 2009, when compared to one year before, or, an increase of 2.79 million new paying customers.

“The double-digit sequential increases in the user base of our games and the record financial results achieved in the second quarter reaffirms our confidence in the future of the online games industry in China and of our company,” says Changyou’s CEO Mr. Tao Wang, Changyou’s chief executive officer.

When it comes down to dollars and cents, i.e. the ARPU, or rather, Average Revenue Per Users, Changyou admits that the number has dropped 8 percent Q2 QOQ, and 1 percent YOY, down to $24. However, according to the company, this is fine by them, as they seek, “to have ARPU within a range that keeps the company’s games affordable for the majority of Chinese game players.”

A “Fair Enough” explanation, as these QOQ and YOY increase figures are surely planting the seeds for future ARPU conversions. In other words, the bottom line might be down for now, but the fresh load of recruits will be ripe and ready for the paying vine soon enough.

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Europe rejoice: DDO Eberron Unlimited going F2P Aug 20th

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Being on the other side of the pond does have a number of advantages, however, in the realm of online gaming, some of these advantages might be harder to find than our North American cousins. 9 times out of 10 the US market gets their hands on the newest, be that good or bad, while those of us in Europe have to bide their time until publishers and licensees can sort out the EU market. Thankfully, Dungeons and Dragons Online creators Turbine announced last week that said title is now coming to Europe under the same free-to-play model.

EU FlagSpeaking to (appropriately) Eurogamer.net, Turbine made the announcement official, “We are very excited to announce that Turbine will be expanding its operations and will assume full control of Dungeons & Dragons Online in Europe,” says Turbine

“Beginning 20th August, all European players can visit the official site to download and play the English version of DDO Unlimited with no monthly subscription required. Turbine’s new German and French service will enter beta before the end of the year.”

Eurogamer also confirms what I personally have been doing for months now, which is simply connecting to the US servers from here in Austria. Sure, lag is a bit of an issue, but nothing that ruins the overall experience. On a bit of a cultural sidenote, it always amuses me that companies usually fret over German, French, and sometimes Spanish versions of their game, while I’m met plenty of Germans, Austrians, Italians, Poles, and Russians in WoW, and most of the time there’s never any language issues. And then there’s all the Scandinavian countries, i.e. those that don’t overdub their TV programs, and 9 out of 10 of them speak English, perhaps even better than I do. /soapbox.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming….

With the DDO goes EU announcement, Turbine also announced that they’ll be assuming full control of the game, meaning that the current DDO EU operator, Codemasters, is on the outs. Turbine says that they’re working with Codemasters to “facilitate a smooth transition,” but something tells me that Codemasters can’t be too happy with this deal. And remember, Turbine’s officially announced that their flagship title, Lord of the Rings Online will also be going free-to-play, at least in the US, come this fall. If the recently acquired by Warner Bros. Turbine is “assuming the bridge” for it’s DDO EU operations, one can only think that this is a first step in establishing global operations. I.e. we’re likely to see the same methods applied for Lotro’s EU debut in F2P format. Looking down the road, Turbine’s operations could very well be a testing ground for all future Warner Bros. games related activities, if not solely for Europe, the entire globe.

In regards to payment methods, it seems as though Turbine will model the North American release, offering current and former DDO subscribers 5000 Turbine points (approximate retail value: €50/£42) upon character transfer to the new global DDO service.

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North Carolina grants tax credits to spur digital media growth

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

North Carolina is already home to a number of pixel generating firms, and with the passage of a new law that’s designed to spur growth in the digital media industry via financial incentives, there could be a whole lot more in store for the Tar heel State.

sealSigned yesterday by North Carolina Governor Beverly Purdue, the new law will take effect January 1, 2011, and incentivize companies to either grow or found their business in North Carolina by providing a 15 percent tax credit on employers’ payments to employees, provided they operate in the development of interactive media, or a platform that runs said media.

One of North Carolina’s most prominent players in this field, Epic Games’ president Dr. Michael Capps comments, “North Carolina is host to a growing hotbed of talented individuals working to develop cutting-edge game technologies and exciting new ways to experience entertainment, visualization and training software. This law provides North Carolina with a tremendous opportunity to grow and develop our community into a world leader for information technology.”

To commemorate the occasion, House Bill 1973 was signed by the Governor at Epic Games’ headquarters in Cary. Driving this bill were State Representatives Pryor Gibson, Grier Martin and Chris Heagarty and Senators Marc Basnight, Dan Clodfelter, Floyd McKissick, Josh Stein, and Clark Jenkins. They, and numerous other state officials were on hand to witness the signing.

“The passage of this legislation marks a significant investment in the future of North Carolina’s interactive digital media industry,” said Alexander Macris, president of the Triangle Game Initiative. “Our state is home to one of the largest concentrations of game development companies in the United States. These incentives will not only help keep North Carolina competitive on the national stage, it will produce compelling ROI for the state’s graduates, skilled work force and research and development infrastructure.”

The bill even garnered the attention of The Entertainment Software Association (ESA – the E3 folks). ESA gave the bill high praise and noted that in 2006, the gaming industry contributed $73.4 million dollars to the state economy, and had 14 various game developers and publishers calling NC home.

“North Carolina is among states leading the charge to embrace computer and video games as a job engine and a magnet to recruit and retain talented artists. These incentives demonstrate the state’s commitment to encouraging the expansion of the entertainment software industry,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA. “We applaud Governor Perdue and members of the North Carolina Legislature for taking action that will stimulate technological innovations and the state’s economy for years to come.”

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Q3 sees record results for Apple

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Announced earlier this week, Apple reported their financial results for Q3 2010. In total, the company saw a record $15.7 billion in revenue, resulting in a net quarterly profit of $3.25 billion. When viewed from a YoY perspective, these numbers compare to $9.72 billion, with a net quarterly profit of $1.83 billion.

apple_moneyBreaking it down by products sold, Apple’s numbers look like so:

  • 3.47 million Macs were sold in Q3 2010 – this is a new quarterly record for Apple, and a 33 percent YoY increase
  • 8.4 million iPhones moved out the door in Q3 – a massive 61 percent increase in Year over Year growth.
  • 9.4 million iPods also found new homes – an 8 percent decline, however, remember that each iPhone sold includes iPod functionality inside.
  • 3.27 million iPads left the Apple warehouses – while the company only began offering the device to selected markets late in Q3.

Apple also notes that over half of corporate revenues arriving from international sales, clearly indicating that it’s not just The United States inhabitants that love Apple.

“It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.”

“We’re really pleased to have generated over $4 billion of cash during the quarter,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the fourth fiscal quarter of 2010, we expect revenue of about $18 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $3.44″

The Apple Q3 financial results call can be listened to here, and will remain online for the next two weeks.

If there was any question about Apple’s dominance in today’s computing world, these Q3 results should quell any ney-sayers. And while Apple’s news alone is quite outstanding, I personally would love to know what percentage of these record breaking results arrived via Apple’s cut of all app, and their associated downloadable content, sales. With 21.07 million devices capable of app installations (assuming the iPods are all of the Touch variety), not only is that in itself a massive chunk of cash, but thanks to the longevity of the potential revenue streams derived from all app store purchases, these Q3 numbers are, in fact, much larger than they appear.

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WildTangent previews new online gaming service

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Packed with over 1,000 games, WildTangent’s preview of their upcoming gaming service seeks to a wide variety of social and entertainment features to participants. With properties ranging from Disney to PopCap to Ubisoft, it looks like the WildTangent team might just have a WildWinner on their hands.

wildtangentgamesDubbed WildTangent Games, WildTangent’s newest offering platforms itself as an, “online games service and unique games app, that will soon feature social games and premium flash games…” For the multitasker in all of us, WIldTangent Games will also allow players to tap into other forms of entertainment, TV, Music, Facebook, etc. without the annoying alt/tab, but rather, built right into one single portal.

“Our new games service will be an entirely new arena for both game players and the game developers who create great experiences for our consumers,” said Sean Vanderdasson, senior vice president at WildTangent. “We’ll continue to offer games tailored for all members of the household as well as our unique free/rent/own model. Now, however, developers of all types, including social developers and those whose games include digital items, can benefit from inclusion within our service.”

Taking a page perhaps from the earliest versions of Facebook, WIldTangent Games features a clean and uncluttered, if minimal, look. The thinking here is to get gamers as fast as possible to the content they’re seeking. Keeping all your entertainment anchored is a tabbing system that includes quick passage to other entertainment forms, i.e. the aforementioned “others.”

By way of monetization, Vanderdasson comments, “We’ve been conducting focus groups and researching the game play behavior of our consumers, and believe we’ve created a service that will be enjoyable for our consumers as well as fruitful for game developers. Some new game formats like social games and flash games with digital items can be challenging to monetize. We’re bringing our digital currency and top advertising partners into the mix so our game players can now choose whether they’d like to receive a digital item as a “gift” from a relevant brand, purchase digital items with WildCoins or choose other options. We believe we’ve created a great experience for everyone.”

Interested gamers can get cracking on WildTangent’s newest offering at wildtangent.com. Vanderdasson also adds that the service is in “preview” mode, and that the company is keen on collecting user feedback to incorporate into the full release version of the platform.

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Casual Connect: Slingo taps new CEO

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Kicking off in Seattle, WA today, an industry “must be at”, the Casual Connect Conference is sure to be packed with tasty news items from today, and tomorrow’s state of casual. Wasting no time, Slingo Inc. is first out of the gate by making the official announcement of their appointment of a new CEO: Former PlayFirst VP of Business Development and Sales, Rich Roberts.

Rich RobertsSlingo Inc. may or may not be a name you’re familiar with, but chances are if you played a game at America Online, AC Coin and Slot, IGT, Funkitron, Scientific Games, PixelPlay, and/or Oberon-Media, you’ve played one of Slingo’s developments. And with such clients already in the books, Roberts steps into some large shoes at the head of Slingo. He’s replacing longtime owner and founder Sal Falciglia Sr., who will still stay involved in the company’s casino-related operations.

“After 16 years as the CEO of Slingo, Inc., I am happy to pass the torch to Rich and I am excited to have someone with his experience and talents to lead the company in its next stage of growth,” comments Falciglia.

Roberts joins the Slingo team with two decades of experience in distribution and development of branded entertainment properties. Most recently, Roberts’ was VP of Business Development and Sales with PlayFirst where he grew the company through branded entertainment and distribution. According to PlayFirst, Roberts was one of the first to integrate social media technologies into downloadable games. Prior to PlayFirst, Roberts headed up new distribution and publishing options while with Atari and Hasbro Games. His focus has continually been on embracing new technologies and leveraging them to usher in new distribution methods. “Rich is the perfect addition to the executive team at Slingo and we are excited to have him as part of the team,” said Eric Lamendola, general manager of Slingo, Inc. “His knowledge and expertise in high-quality digital branded entertainment will allow him to create and execute a strategic vision that supports all of our platforms and cross-media endeavors.”

Prior to the gaming industry, Roberts was responsible for launching over 200 software titles with academic publishers Simon & Schuster/Macmillian.

“Slingo, Inc. is a mark of excellence in branded entertainment within the games industry and has fifteen years of experience in delivering fun community-based games,” said Mr. Roberts. “Slingo, Inc. is a company that has successfully delivered content across every media from online, to casinos, to television and holds one of the few brands that are consistently successful on every platform.”

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SGN builds bridge between iPhone and Android gamers with Skies of Glory

Monday, July 19th, 2010

SGN, aka Social Gaming Network, has recently announced their connecting bridge between iPhone and Android handheld gamers. The “bridge” comes via the first multi-platform mobile game that allows iPhone and Android users the ability to compete against each other, although playing on two very different platforms.

SGN’s “Skies of Glory” was first launched in December of 2009 for iPhone, and is now available to eager Android owned gamers, provided they have an Android phone above v2.0. These models include the EVO, Nexus, and Droid.

SOG

As a clever touch, in multi-player mode, Android users (and presumably vice-versa) can spot iPhone based players for a quick and dirty dogfight 30,000 ft. in the air. Set in World War II, “Skies of Glory,” pits players in authentic replications of planes from the era in multiplayer battles over graphically rich terrains.

SGN’s entry to the Android market is assisted by Revo Solutions Games, the same development partner they worked with on the iPhone version of said game. The decision to enter the Android gaming front follows current industry trends that have seen a rapid rise in adoption and overall usage of the “other” smartphone out there. In Q1 of 2010 alone, Android has garnered 26.6 percent of all North American smartphone sales, a YoY increase of over 500 percent.

To this end, SGN and Revo Solutions Games developed an Open Platform Multiplayer Framework to work with a variety of platforms including today’s industry leading smartphones, as well as those down the road. The platform is also engineered to take advantage of all that today’s smartphone has to offer including EDGE, 3G, and WiFi technologies, thereby providing the end user with the maximum ability to connect.

“Mobile phones are unquestionably the gaming platform of the future. Smartphones are becoming accessible to all, and we are really excited to offer a true multi-platform, multiplayer social mobile gaming experience through ‘Skies of Glory,’” said SGN CEO Randy Breen. “As more and more people connect with family and friends through gaming, we continue to facilitate that connection regardless of users’ device or platform preferences.”

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