mobile gaming

News Byte

Gree’s New San Francisco Office to Accommodate Hiring Spree

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on February 10 at 10:36 am PT

Gree, the Tokyo-based company that bought OpenFeint for $100 million earlier this year and is trying to build a global mobile social network, has aggressive hiring plans in San Francisco. The company said it plans to move into a new 41,000-square-foot office this spring, which will enable it to double its headcount to about 300 employees. The game development studio will focus on developing free-to-play games aimed at the international market.

Roll of the DICE: Videogame Leaders Name the Industry’s Best

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on February 9 at 6:22 pm PT

The videogame industry is hosting an Oscars-like ceremony Thursday in Las Vegas, where a few hundred of the top leaders will recognize the achievements in the interactive arts and sciences.

Can There Be Another Rovio? Outfit7 Wants to Give It a Shot.

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on February 7 at 3:00 am PT

Outfit7 says its games on the iPhone and iPad have hit more than 300 million downloads since launching a year and a half ago.

Zynga’s First Super Bowl Commercial … Kind Of

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on February 6 at 11:55 am PT

Zynga’s popular puzzle game Words With Friends was featured in Best Buy’s Super Bowl commercial yesterday, calling attention to the game’s founders as some of the “greatest mobile innovators.”

Kabam Acquires Top LucasArts Game Makers to Help Build Hardcore Social Games

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 27 at 12:18 am PT

Kabam, known for developing hardcore social games such as The Godfather and Kingdoms of Camelot, has acquired a company with deep roots in the console game space.

Ex-PopCap Developer Looking for New Ways to Monetize Mobile Games

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 25 at 9:00 am PT

One of PopCap’s lead developers is starting a company that has come up with a new way to make money using incentives in free mobile apps.

Will There Be More Plush Toys? Rovio’s Former Branding Exec Lands at Big Fish Games.

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 25 at 6:00 am PT

Games maker Big Fish has hired former Rovio executive Wibe Wagemans to head up mobile.

News Byte

6waves Lolapps Acquires Its Way Into Mobile Gaming

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 18 at 4:35 am PT

6waves Lolapps, one of the top game companies on Facebook, says it will start publishing Android and iOS games with the help of an acquisition. It is announcing today that it has acquired Dallas-based Escalation Studios. All combined, the company will have 230 employees spread across its offices in San Francisco, Dallas and multiple locations in Asia. Terms were not disclosed.

Zynga’s Stock Is Up — And Why Every Other Game Company Stock Is Down

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 13 at 1:44 pm PT

Zynga is bucking market trends today and is trading higher despite a report that came out yesterday suggesting that December sales were extremely weak across the industry.

Sony Ericsson Asks Game Maker The9 to Manage Its App Store in China

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 11 at 1:58 pm PT

The9, which is known for helping to bring games from the U.S. to China, is announcing a partnership with Sony Ericsson to operate its mobile app store there.