Social And Casual Division Formed By Relentless

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Relentless Software has announced the that they have formed a new division within the company. This division will focus on social and casual games, not unlike the company’s previous titles Quiz Climber for iOS, and Blue Toad Murder Files: The Mysteries of Little Riddle, on PS3 and Windows PC.

“The digital division in Relentless has been established as a separate division that reports to me as CEO,” said Relentless executive director Andrew Eades. “We’re serious about social and mobile games and that’s why we have taken the logical step to separate these activities from the console business.”

Former EA employee James Wright has also been hired as the division’s executive producer. “The formalization of the Digital Division is a valuable starting point to take over from Relentless’ self-publishing strategy,” said Wright.

Appssavvy Raises $7.1 Million For Monetizing Online Engagement

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Appssavvy has raised $7.1 million in capital. They will use the money to build new technology around the monetizing actions such as voting in a poll, checking into a location or leaving a comment.

“The future of how publishers are building games and building communities is not around page views and impressions,” said Appssavvy CEO and co-founder Chris Cunningham.

This new technology, called Adtivity, will deliver an ad when someone decides to something like write a review of a book in an app. Appssavvy thinks that such engagement will out-date the traditional page view metric.

Right now, Appssavvy is working with publishers like Disney, CrowdStar, OMGPOP and Arkadium along with brands American Express, Chase and Coca-Cola. The company has 55 employees and the funding will go towards structuring the engineering team, sales organization and investing in web and mobile technologies

Source: AdAge

Batman: Arkham City Skin For Free

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Rocksteady today said they were offering a skin of Batman from Grant Morrison’s Batman Inc. for the support off the fans for Batman: Arkham City. They also announced that playing with a new skin at any time involves a simple code entered on the Main Menu screen after you have selected your save slot: Left, Left, Down, Down, Left, Left, Right, Up, Up, Down.

“You will be able to download the skin tomorrow from Xbox Live Marketplace, PlayStation Network and Games for Windows Marketplace,” said Sefton Hill – Game Director at Rocksteady Studios. “We’ll be sure to let everyone know exactly when the skin are available.”

Source: community.batmanarkhamcity.com {link no longer active}

Zynga’s Stock – Reasons For Initial Hardship

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Zynga’s stock has been dropping after peaking at $11 a share, now resting below the initial offering of $10. While the company is profitable, it is believed that investors are increasingly wary of tech stocks, which isn’t the greatest of signs for Facebook or Twitter should those companies go public.

At the same time, the large number of shares being sold may have had a negative effect on the price. Investors are also probably leery of a new company where the board is still controlled by the CEO along with concerns about Zynga’s long-term prospects relating to its growth and overt dependence on Facebook.

Source: AdWeek

Team Fortress 2 Hat Economy Worth $22 Million, Says Estimate

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Paul Manwaring recently did an analysis of the economy of Team Fortress 2, calling it appropriately the “hat economy.” Including all the various elements that go into making items for the game, he puts the value somewhere around $22 million.

“There will be more items sold in the store, more promotional items, more unusual hats and many one off special items (such as earbuds) {link no longer active} to add to that total. Earbuds alone, once awarded to all Mac users, are valued at $20 each. Once again we have no details of numbers awarded, but the value of this single commodity will likely rest at over $1 million,” writes Manwaring. “At the end of the day, however, no matter how large TF2′s economy actually is, it stands as a testament to the potential of this market. Virtual economies are still untested. Whether it’s Zynga flailing on the stock market, or Chinese  ’gold farming‘ horror stories, virtual economies do hit the headlines. Until the sheer weight of these operations start to become noticed, however, the broader picture will not emerge.”

Source: theonlinesociety.com

Flash Developers Still Doing Well, Says Survey

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Mochi Media has announced a result of a survey of 1,000 Flash game developers, where more than 60 percent of those surveyed said that both traffic and revenue are up for 2011. Despite Adobe dropping support for mobile Flash, 60 percent of Flash game developers say they create an online version of the game, then create a mobile version and 83 percent of Flash game developers say they are either creating mobile games today or plan to in the next year.

Android games are the most popular for Flash game developers with 72 percent followed by iOS at 67 percent. Revenue trends are flipped from how most iOS developers make money; app sales account for 62 percent of revenue, ads account for 38 percent while micro-transactions account for only 11 percent of revenue.

Source: wiki.mochimedia.com {link no longer active}

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Facebook Allow

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With console games no longer part of the franchise, a new Facebook game {page no longer active} based on Mission: Impossible franchise has launched allowing fans to play as their own agent and win real-world prizes. Paramount Digital Entertainment and online game maker Funtactix have partnered to deliver a new social game that spans the entire film Paramount Pictures franchise, including the new Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol film. Rather than placing gamers in the role of Ethan Hunt as past game incarnations have done, the new game lets players assume the roles Impossible Mission Force (IMF) agents and assemble unique teams to embark on multiplayer action. The game launches with eight missions that span 200 levels and 50 locales around the globe. Players will have access to the latest IMF gadgets and equipment straight from the movies. In the coming weeks, a new level based on Ghost Protocol will be introduced.

Rewards have been integrated into the game allowing the Facebook community to interact and build on the excitement for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol in an organic way. Players will be able to win tickets to the U.S. premiere of the film as well as a hometown screening of the movie for 30 friends. Other prizes that will be awarded through the game include movie passes to the film, signed movie posters, hats, t-shirts and Mission: Impossible Blu-ray and DVD sets from Paramount Home Entertainment.