81 posts and columns on social gaming

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

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.
DICE2012_atari

Zynga Inks Deal With Hasbro to Bring FarmVille Into the Real World

in Commerce on February 9 at 12:40 pm PT

Zynga has partnered with Hasbro to develop a wide range of toy and gaming experiences based on Zynga’s most popular Facebook games and characters.
Zynga's FarmVille with crops whithering.

News Byte

Zynga General Manager Nabeel Hyatt Joins Spark as Venture Partner

in Commerce on February 9 at 10:46 am PT

Nabeel Hyatt, the founder of Zynga’s Boston office, which led the development of Adventure World, has joined Spark Capital as a venture partner. Hyatt joined Zynga a little less than two years ago through the acquisition of Conduit Labs, where he was CEO and founder. Hyatt will help Spark’s investments with product design, and consult on consumer Web, social and mobile projects.

Zynga’s First Super Bowl Commercial … Kind Of

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.”
words_with_friends_ad

Care to Bet Which Other Social Games Company Is About to Go Public?

in Commerce on February 3 at 2:06 pm PT

Caesars Entertainment may be known for its Las Vegas casinos, but it also has a burgeoning business developing way off the Strip.
caesars_facebook

Did Facebook Just Spill the Beans on Zynga’s Fourth Quarter?

in Commerce on February 2 at 11:21 am PT

Zynga isn’t reporting its fourth-quarter results for another two weeks, but some quick math, based on Facebook’s numbers yesterday, show that it likely did fairly well.
020_zynga

Google’s Punit Soni: We’re Not Just Playing Around When It Comes to Social Gaming

in Commerce on February 2 at 10:00 am PT

After finding out yesterday that games contribute a staggering amount to Facebook’s top line, we now know exactly how important the category is to the success of Google’s social plans.
punit_soni

Electronic Arts Pressured to Outperform in Soft Videogame Market

in Commerce on February 1 at 12:32 pm PT

Electronic Arts will be under pressure to report strong financial results this afternoon after the industry experienced a disappointing holiday period.
EA_E3 Booth

News Byte

Zynga Closes Above Its IPO Price

in Commerce on January 30 at 2:03 pm PT

Maybe it’s the hype around Facebook’s impending IPO, or the opportunity for real-money gaming, but, for whatever reason, Zynga is trading higher than its $10 offering price for one of the first times since December. Today, the social games publisher was up 3.4 percent, or 34 cents, to close at $10.39 a share. Earlier this month, Zynga lost at least 20 percent of its market value, and was having a hard time staying above $8. Fourth-quarter results are due on Valentine’s Day.

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

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.
kabam_godfather

Zynga Calls Out Bingo as It Gets More Serious About Casino Games

in Commerce, January 26, 2012 at 10:00 am PT

Zynga Confirms It Is Seeking Partners for Online Gambling Initiatives

in Commerce, January 20, 2012 at 6:00 am PT

6waves Lolapps Acquires Its Way Into Mobile Gaming

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

in Commerce, January 13, 2012 at 1:44 pm PT

Disney’s Playdom Publishes Third-Party Social Game Title Triple Town

in Commerce, January 13, 2012 at 7:30 am PT

Zynga Hires Top Digital Executive Away From Electronic Arts

in Commerce, January 12, 2012 at 2:47 pm PT

Video Poker Giant Bets $500 Million on Facebook Game Maker Double Down

in Commerce, January 12, 2012 at 1:11 pm PT

A Pair of New Social Games: Google+ Captures Pirates, Facebook Takes EA’s Risk

in Commerce, January 11, 2012 at 12:41 pm PT

Zynga’s Stock Nosedives, Falling Nine Percent to Hit New Low

in Commerce, January 9, 2012 at 9:15 pm PT

Disney Unveils Combat Game on Facebook, Based on Marvel Superheroes

in Commerce, January 9, 2012 at 9:47 am PT

Zynga’s Stock Trading Near All-Time Low Despite Two New Games

in Commerce, January 5, 2012 at 12:20 pm PT

Zynga’s First Post-IPO Title Is a Copycat of the Most Popular Facebook Game of 2011

in Commerce, January 4, 2012 at 9:15 am PT

Seismic Games Raises $2 Million to Develop Social Games

A Banner Black Friday for Some Disappoints Groupon and Other Daily Deal Providers

in Commerce, January 4, 2012 at 2:00 am PT

Americans Played Anything but Social Games During the Holidays

in Commerce, January 3, 2012 at 7:30 am PT