Welcome to the Virtual Goods News Wrap-Up for the week of May 29, 2010. The Wrap-Up is where VGN spotlights stories that we didn't get to cover individually, but still make for interesting reading about the virtual goods industry. Facebook Launches Page For Credits, Shows Off Apps That Use It: Facebook has rolled out an [...]
Welcome to the Virtual Worlds News Wrap-Up for the week of May 29, 2010. The Wrap-Up is where VWN spotlights stories that we didn't get to cover individually, but still make for interesting reading about the virtual worlds industry. Jagex, Bigpoint Partner For RuneScape In France, Germany: Casual and social Euro gaming portal Bigpoint will [...]
Speaking at a conference this week, former Facebook President and Napster co-founder Sean Parker stated that he believed sales of Facebook Credits would account for one-third of Facebook's total revenue over the next twelve months. Parker is still a major shareholder with Facebook and works closely with the company. Tweet
PlaySpan and research Magid Associates released their second annual survey detailing the virtual goods market in North America. (A synopsis of the first survey is available here.) This year's survey finds that roughly 13% of Americans aged 12 to 64 have purchased virtual goods in the past year, spending an average of $99 per person [...]
The subscription MMORPG EVE Online rolled out a very virtual world-like new feature this week, a social network that exists both inside and outside the game world. The social network, called EVE Gate, will represent both players' avatar identities and their real-life selves. EVE Gate will also function as a Web front-end for conducting in-game business. EVE Online [...]
Facebook is slowly rolling out substantial changes to its privacy settings this week, making them less granular and, hopefully, easier for users to manage. One of those changes could have a substantial impact on Facebook's future as a platform for social games and light virtual worlds. Under the new privacy settings, Facebook users now have [...]
Korean freemium MMO developer Nexon has acquired in rival Korean freemium MMO developer GameHi. Nexon purchased 29.3% of outstanding shares, including management rights, for $59 million for shareholder Gunil Kim. GameHi generated $33.9 million in revenue in 2009 with operating profits of $9.2 million. The company's most successful games to date are Sudden Attack and [...]
The mobile social gaming network OpenFeint has passed the 25 million user mark, which represents roughly 29% of the entire Apple mobile device market. In conjunction with this, parent company Aurora Feint has announced that OpenFeint 2.5 is now going into private beta. Tweet
Fremantle Media Enterprises has teamed up with interactive entertainment company Ludia to roll out an American Idol game for Facebook, called American Idol Star Experience, to coincide with the season finale that also aired this week. Users download the free Performance Creator software for PC and then craft a custom performance avatar. From there the [...]
The augmented reality development firm Ogmento has just scored a $3.5 million round of Series A financing lead by Chart Venture Partners with participation from CNF Investments and private investors. This makes Ogmento the first augmented reality firm to receive venture investment. Chart's Matthew McCoe and CNF's Joe Del Guercio will be joining the Ogmento's [...]
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