Zynga Looks at Gambling for Zynga Poker
JAN. 20, 2012 • Zynga is actively investigating its options to enter legal online gambling with its Zynga Poker game. The title already attracts 7 million players a day, and Zynga says it has consumer feedback suggesting a willingness to bet real money. The publisher is initially looking at partnerships to introduce the gambling option, rather than creating the capability in-house.
Impact: Wit.....
Mass Effect 3 Origin Exclusive
JAN. 13, 2012 • BioWare has announced to its large player community that an account with EA’s Origin digital distribution service will be required to play any PC version of Mass Effect 3 – retail and digital copies. In addition, Mass Effect 3 will not be available via Steam. After registration via Origin, a constant online connection will not be required to play the single player portion of Mass Effect 3.
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Gods and Heroes MMO Goes Free-to-Play
JAN. 12, 2012 • Heatwave Interactive has announced it was taking its Roman themed Gods and Heroes MMO free-to-play later this year. While the transition process is undertaken, the publisher has eliminated all fees previously required to play the game, and opened up all content for free access.
Impact: Gods & Heroes goes way back and was originally scheduled to launch way back in 2005. In.....
Free-to-Play EverQuest II Draws Crowd
JAN. 11, 2012 • Since becoming an F2P game back in December, EverQuest II has seen the number of new players jump by 300%, a 40% increase in daily logins, and 200% growth of in-game virtual item sales.
Impact: When something of value is offered for free that consumers used to have to pay for you can expect user numbers to soar. The reported increase in EverQuest II numbers is actually relati.....
Video Game Sales Flat at GameStop
JAN. 9, 2012 • For the nine week period ending Dec. 31, retailer GameStop reported that overall sales were flat at $3.02 billion, compared to the same period last year. Game software sales did grow to 10% to $1.47 billion, but game hardware sales dropped 20%. Other growth areas included digital sales (60%), and used games (3.5%). In the U.K., music, video and game retailer HMV saw its total sales for the same nine week period drop 9.8%. While DVD sales remained .....
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