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Jun
8

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‘The Sims’ Facebook Game App Announced At E3 2011

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Current "The Sims" Division logo, us...

Image via Wikipedia

Wish you could be on Facebook both as yourself and as a virtual avatar version of yourself? Good news: here come “The Sims.”

EA will launch “The Sims Social” for Facebook as an extension of the popular Sims franchise. According to Mashable, a Facebook page for the game is already up, though no information has yet been released about when we can expect the game to go live.

“The Sims Social” will let users create avatars to interact with other Facebook users. There will also be a mobile app to accompany the game.

The Sims first launched back in 2000 and has since sold over 140 million units worldwide. In the game, users can play the part of virtual characters who interact with each other, get jobs, have babies and die.

EA’s new release would pit them against social game powerhouse Zynga, which dominates Facebook with popular games like Farmville and Mafia Wars.

Over 800 people have already reviewed the app on Facebook, despite the fact that it is not yet active. 900 users have also Like the games page on Facebook.

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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Jun
3

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Capital One’s Visigoths Invade FarmVille

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Image representing Zynga as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

Financial services brand Capital One is the latest to land in FarmVille.

Starting Thursday at midnight ET (9 p.m. Pacific), FarmVille players can get coveted “Double Mastery” points on crops and trees harvested within seven days when they place a Capital One Visigoth statue on their farms. This will increase the rate at which players advance to higher levels in the game.

The tie-in also includes access to branded clothing — a FarmVille first — to outfit their male and female in-game avatars with Visigoth costumes. Players can also earn “Fast Cash” by watching a Capital One TV spot featuring the Visigoths, characters the brand introduced in 2000.

The FarmVille foray comes as Capital One, a huge TV advertiser, has been relatively quiet on the social media front. Like many financial services brands, its social media activity is constricted somewhat by regulations. Meanwhile, Capital One is far from the first brand to visit Zynga’s FarmVille. 7-Eleven, DreamWorks and Lady Gaga have all launched FarmVille tie-ins.

Source :- http://mashable.com

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Jun
1

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Zynga Announces Empires & Allies

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Image representing Zynga as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

ynga, the creators of FarmVille and CityVille, is about to unleash its newest social game upon the world: Empires & Allies, the company’s first combat strategy game.

The social gaming giant describes Empires & Allies as “CityVille meets Risk.” Unlike FarmVille, where your goal is to build up your property through trade and commerce, Empires & Allies is about building an army and protecting your empire. Users can build army units, form alliances, secure energy and even invade other islands. In some ways, it’s similar to OGame and the other battle-oriented browser games of the early 2000s.

Unlike other Zynga games, Empires & Allies is driven by its story. The game has more than 30 characters that guide players through the storyline. The game isn’t focused on hardcore gamers though, and has many of the casual gaming elements that have made Zynga’s games so successful. “We’re focused on bringing our players a new form of entertainment and a strategy game is definitely a new playground for us,” Empires & Allies executive producer Amer Ajami said.

While this isn’t Zynga’s first combat game (that honor goes to Mafia Wars), it’s a more involved game that requires strategic battle planning and resource management. Zynga’s betting that the combination of in-depth strategy and social gaming will turn Empires & Allies into a lucrative time sink.

The game will become available on Wednesday in 12 languages.

Source :- http://mashable.com

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May
31

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Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Hitting Facebook This Fall

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THQ has found a way to glom on to Zynga’s popular “-Ville” franchises without impinging on any copyrights with a new social game, Margaritaville Online.

The game, “inspired by the lifestyle of author and singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett,” according to a THQ release, and based on the 1977 hit song, will hit Facebook and iOS devices this fall. The release describes the game as “an immersive 3D paradise, filled with frozen concoctions, music and adventure.”

The game’s introduction comes after Zynga has had a slew of successes with FarmVille, CityVille, FrontierVille and, most recently, RewardVille. Though Homefront, a controversial Xbox 360 shooting game that takes place in a dystopian U.S. after a nuclear attack from North Korea, has done well for THQ, sales for THQ’s fourth quarter fell 37%. Meanwhile, Margaritaville Online will be THQ’s second social game, after UFC Undisputed Fight Nation.

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May
25

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Zynga Preparing To File IPO: Report

Category: Social, Technology Tags: , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Image representing Zynga as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

Zynga, the force behind wildly popular social games like Farmville, Mafia Wars, and FrontierVille, is preparing to file its initial public offering, writes All Things D‘s Kara Swisher, citing unnamed sources “close to the situation.”

According to All Things D, Zynga may file with the Securities Exchange Commission “as early as this week, or next week at the latest.”

The IPO follows hot on the heels of LinkedIn, which was predicted to touch off a slew of IPOs by Internet companies such as Groupon and Facebook.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that Zynga’s revenues in 2010–the company’s third year in business–reached $850 million, triple what it brought in in 2009. In May 2011, following a fresh round of funding just south of $500 million, the company was estimated to be worth around $10 billion. It’s likely that its valuation could rise significantly, especially given investors’ red-hot demand for social networking sites and Internet firms, which has sparked talk of a second tech bubble.

By comparison, LinkedIn brought in $243 million in revenue in 2010 and was valued at around $8.45 billion, post-IPO.

The New York Times wrote in January of this year that an IPO by Zynga was “said to be unlikely in 2011.” The Times reported, Zynga “is in no hurry for an initial public offering and unlikely to seek one this year, according to people with knowledge of the company’s plans.”

Read more at All Things D.

Source :- http://www.huffingtonpost.com

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May
23

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Zynga And DreamWorks Partner For Kung Fu Panda 2 Marketing Deal In CityVille

Category: Social, Technology Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Image representing Zynga as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

Zynga is racking up the Hollywood and entertainment partnerships. After launching a marketing deal with Lady Gaga for FarmVille, the social gaming giant is rolling out another deal, this time with DreamWorks Animation for the promotion of the studio’s new movie Kung Fu Panda 2. Zynga says this is the first-ever in-game integration within CityVille, the company’s most popular game by monthly active users on Facebook.

CityVille, which has more than 88 million monthly players, will allow users to place a Kung Fu Panda 2 themed drive-in movie theater in their city. Players who place the theater will also receive collection items, members of Kung Fu Panda’s Furious Five: Tigress, Crane, Mantis, Viper and Monkey. When all five items are collected, an exclusive Po the Panda statue will be unlocked and available to players as a reward for completing the Kung Fu Panda 2 quest. The integration runs until May 31.

Why CityVille? Zynga’s Global Director of Brand Advertising Manny Anekal says that nearly a third of all Kung Fu Panda fans on Facebook have also played CityVille. For DreamWorks, the studio can reach 88 million users, who are engaged with the Kung Fu Panda brand, with the promotion.

This isn’t the first partnership with DreamWorks; Zynga and the studio previously launched a “Mega-Farm” promotion on FarmVille with animated movie Megamind. But Zynga says this is the first in-game marketing deal for CityVille. And this follows the recent appointment of DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg to Zynga’s board of directors.

As TechCrunch wrote in the past, adding Katzenberg to the gaming company’s board represented a broader, multi-channel entertainment strategy for Zynga. I’m sure we’ll see a number of similar deals being struck with both DreamWorks and other movie studios for branded promotions in Zynga’s games.

Source :- http://techcrunch.com

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