China’s JD launches Free Trade Platform

APRIL 21, 2015 • Last week China’s JD.com, Inc. launched a new cross-border ecommerce platform called JD Worldwide. The premise is to provide Chinese consumers the opportunity to purchase Western brands at a much lower cost. Instead of a foreign company having to set up a wholly Chinese division or a partnership with a domestic company, they can work directly with JD Worldwide as the point-of-sale via their own online store pages. This system is possible t.....

Electronic Arts PC F2P Is Cut Back

APRIL 16, 2015 • Electronic Arts Inc. is shutting down four of its major Play4Free titles for the PC platform. Battlefield Heroes, Battlefield Play4Free, FIFA World and Need for Speed World will go offline in 90 days. The publisher said all four Electronic Arts PC F2P games were no longer as popular as they once were but did not provide details on what the current number of active users are compared to previous quarters. For the fiscal quarter ending December 31.....

Paradox Interactive Focuses on Grand Strategy Games

APRIL 14, 2015 • Many major game publishers have withdrawn from genres that used to be staples for the PC platform – the kinds of deep strategy and RPG titles that once defined computer games. It was not a factor of these titles not selling but how much money was available to be made in publishing them compared to a Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto installment.  Paradox Interactive is one company that has doubled down on complex strategy games. .....

Zynga CEO Don Mattrick Leaves Company

APRIL 9, 2015 • Don Mattrick has relinquished his positions as Zynga CEO and board member.  The company formalized a separation agreement with Mattrick through which all parties concurred that his employment would terminate on April 8. The agreement provides up to $25,000 to Mattrick to cover fees for legal advice during the negotiation of the separation compact. Mattrick received the final agreement on April 5 and had 21 days in which to accept the document, a.....

China Xbox One Systems Region Unlocked

APRIL 8, 2015 • This week a firmware update went out to China Xbox One systems, after which consumers there reported their consoles were no longer region locked and screenshots of international versions of Xbox One games running on Chinese systems soon appeared. Microsoft Corp. and its local partner, BesTV, have not officially commented on the update. The disabling of the region lock on imported discs comes less than a month after the .....

Securing Apps With Seworks

APRIL 3, 2015 • As with the freemium model itself, much of the worst mobile game app hacking is coming out of Asia. It is not surprising then that some of the best security solutions are also emanating out of Asia. One of those new security firms is Seworks Inc., based in Seoul, South Korea. The company recently expanded across the Pacific to open an office in San Francisco. DFC recently.....

OnLive Shutting Down

APRIL 3, 2015 • OnLive Inc., the ailing cloud-based subscription game streaming service that turned heads back in 2009, is going out with a whimper. The service is ceasing operations on April 30, with Sony Computer Ent. acquiring the company’s portfolio of 140 U.S. and international patents. How much Sony paid for the patents was not disclosed. In 2011, many estimates put the valuation.....

Raptr Launches Plays.tv

MARCH 31, 2015 • Best known for its PC game customization tools, Raptr, Inc. has launched a new social network named Plays.tv. The idea behind the site is to provide PC gamers a place where they can show off their in-game highlights. While there are already services such as Twitch.tv that provide very similar functionality, Plays.tv is not concentrating on live streaming or long videos but short clips. The idea for Plays.tv came out of experience gained from Rap.....

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