Nexon Takes Stake in BoomBang Games
OCT. 5, 2010 • Nexon Co., Ltd. has invested in Spanish online game developer BoomBang Games, acquiring 32% of the latter’s shares. Based in Barcelona, BoomBang designs Flash-based titles that encourage social networking and will appeal to Spanish-speaking teens around the world.
Impact: DFC has long predicted the growth of gaming, particularly online gaming, to new geographies and demogr.....
Zynga Buys Dextrose
SEPT. 25, 2010 • Zynga has purchased German game engine developer Dextrose. The latter is known for its Aves engine, which supports high-end gameplay in a browser window. Dextrose will become Zynga Germany in Frankfurt.
Impact: It is fairly obvious that Zynga is in trouble. With their new game, Frontierville, launched in June 2010, Zynga seemed compelled to make the game almost unplayable un.....
Realtime Worlds APB MMO Locked Down
SEPT. 15, 2010 • Only a month after Scotland-based developer Realtime Worlds went into administration – the British form of bankruptcy – its APB MMOG was shut down. The game had been live for less than three months. No buyers were found to acquire the MMOG.
Impact: Realtime Worlds and the APB MMOG show the risk associated with high end development. Over the past five years, Realtime ha.....
Andre Vrignaud to Amazon
SEPT. 8, 2010 • Amazon.com hired away Microsoft’s director of game platform strategy, Andre Vrignaud. Vrignaud had been with Microsoft since 2002, and has been an instrumental participant in the establishment of Xbox Live. For what purpose Amazon hired Vrignaud has not been disclosed.
Impact: We had been surprised that Amazon.com had not seemed to be very aggressive in focusing on digita.....
