Interview: InComm Primes Online Commerce

DEC. 14, 2010 • The emergence of the free-to-play online model as a major growth sector in the games business in recent years could not have happened as smoothy without companies such as InComm. Given the ranges of ages and incomes of people who play games online, the tried and true credit card payment systems was not sufficient. Many consumers would rather pay as they go, and are not comfortable with offering up their debit c.....

Free-to-Play MLB Manager

DEC. 14, 2010 • To correspond with the arrival of the next Major League Baseball season Sega of America will launch the F2P MLB Manager Online in North America, Japan and South Korea. Backed by licenses with the MLB Players Association and MLB, players can select from more than 900 players from all 30 U.S. Major League Baseball teams. Impact: The console MLB games market in the U.S. is current.....

GameStop Tries Social Games With Jolt Online Gaming

DEC. 14, 2010 • GameStop has jumped into the publishing of F2P social network games. Working with Jolt Online Gaming, GameStop announced the launch of Utopia Kingdoms on Facebook. The game has similarities to games from Blizzard’s Warcraft series. GameStop sees its arrival on Facebook as a great example of how to provide its customers with online games they can play anytime, anywhere and on any device. .....

Crytek Warface Goes Online Free-to-Play

NOV. 25, 2010 • Crytek GmbH announced it first online F2P first-person shooter title, Warface. The game uses the CryENGINE 3 platform for high-quality visuals, and was developed at Crytek Seoul primarily for the Korean market. Multiplayer co-operative and PvP features are planned. Chinese publisher Tencent has acquired the exclusive rights to market the Warface in China. Impact: Outside of Bli.....

CD Projekt to Fine Witcher 2 Pirates

NOV. 20, 2010 • Fearing that its upcoming single-player RPG Witcher 2 will be a major piracy target, Polish publisher CD Projekt is signing on with legal firms in larger markets. Users whose accounts can be identified with an illegal download of the game will receive a letter demanding payment of a fine, or risk legal action. CD Projekt says the fine amount will be more than the retail price of the game, but hasn’t said how much. .....

CityVille Localized

NOV. 20, 2010 • Continuing its expanding embrace of new international markets, Zynga announced that its next major title CityVille, will be localized at launch into five languages: English, French, Italian, German and Spanish. Impact: With a lot of competition on its heels, Zynga doesn’t have the luxury it once did to roll out new titles in a viral fashion. With so much market share to .....

OnLive Micro Console Pre-Order

NOV. 19, 2010 • OnLive began taking pre-orders for its TV-compatible OnLive micro console unit. For $99, consumers receive one OnLive wireless controller plus a $50 credit. Earlier in the year the firm scrapped its $14.95 paid subscription model that forced user to pay just for the privilege to buy titles. New releases games can be purchased a la carte, but starting Jan.15 OnLive will put in place a $9.99 per month PlayPack subscription that gives users 24/7 acc.....

WildTangent Rents Games

NOV. 16, 2010 • Online game rentals have a new twist with the launch of WildTangent Games. The object is still to encourage consumers to purchase, but the new site makes it very easy to try before buying. Many of the 1,300 available titles can be played for free for up to several hours, much long.....

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