Have you ever wondered about the economics of the video game industry? Games sometimes get a bad rap because spending time playing them is not considered to be “constructive.”

As you can see in the graphic below, making video games is certainly a worthwhile endeavor and can be as lucrative as it is intellectually rewarding! So next time someone in your life tells you to “stop wasting your time” with video games, you can show them this…

Source: Big Fish Games

TOP ELEVEN SCORES WITH 11 MILLION MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS

AS IT CELEBRATES THIRD ANNIVERSARY

Award-Winning European Game Studio Nordeus Sees Constant Growth Across Multiple Platforms

Belgrade, Serbia — May 23, 2013 — Online sports game Top Eleven – Be A Football Manager, developed by social game studio Nordeus, celebrates its third anniversary with 11 million monthly active users, making it the most played online sports game in the world. In the last three years, Nordeus has accomplished three major milestones with Top Eleven:

· Constant Growth – Since launch, Top Eleven has reached more than 40 million registered users, and currently has more than 11 million monthly active users, maintaining a 25% retention rate in just three years. The DAU/MAU ratio is 40%, one of the top engagements in the world.

· Recognized on Top Grossing App Charts Worldwide – Top Eleven is among the top grossing apps on iOS and Android, and is in the top five in more than 53 countries.

· Authentic Gameplay Experience – Nordeus’ partnerships with football clubs Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, Milan and more bring fans closer to the sport with official team jerseys and logos in Top Eleven. Real Madrid’s head coach José Mourinho is the face of the popular app, and serves as an in-game coach for new players in tutorial mode.

Top Eleven was developed by award-winning European game studio, Nordeus. Founded in March 2010 in Belgrade, Serbia, Top Eleven was created to fuel football fans’ passion for the world¹s most popular sport and allow them to build, improve and manage their own teams. Nordeus’ growing success has already been widely recognized in Europe: the company was named “Best Gaming Startup” at the Europas 2011 Awards, one of ETTA’s “Top 25 Hottest Tech Companies in Europe” in 2011 and as “People¹s Choice – Best Startup” at the London Web Summit 2012.

“Nordeus is at the forefront of the sports game industry, and our success with Top Eleven has been tantamount to our growth and expansion,” said Branko Milutinovic, CEO, Nordeus. “Next, we will be expanding operations to Dublin, Ireland and Skopje, Macedonia, and are actively seeking new talent.”

Top Eleven allows players to create and manage their own customized football teams. Professional Top Eleven managers can build up stadiums for their teams where they can compete against other players. Along with its complexity and advanced football manager features, Top Eleven offers cross-platform compatibility and a seamless gaming experience across web, Android and iOS devices.

Top Eleven gives the most hardcore football fans an authentic gameplay experience. In March, the company chose Real Madrid¹s head coach, José Mourinho, to be the face of Top Eleven. Nordeus has also partnered with football clubs – Real Madrid, Liverpool, Arsenal, AC Milan, Benfica, Roma, Boca Juniors, Porto and more – also bring official in-game items to Top Eleven.

Top Eleven is currently available on Facebook and for Android and iOS devices as a free download.

For more information about Top Eleven visit www.topeleven.com.

For more information about Nordeus visit www.nordeus.eu.

About Nordeus:

Nordeus is a leading and award-winning European game developer, and officially the best European gaming start up of 2011. At Nordeus, our goal is to provide a seamless gaming experience to millions of people, regardless of the devices they are using. That is why we make online games that are free and accessible to a wide range of people. Every day, our team of more than 100 people in Belgrade and San Francisco put all of their talent into making five-star games. Every day, millions of people enjoy what we have created.

About Top Eleven – Be A Football Manager:

Top Eleven is the most played online sports game in the world, with 11 million monthly and nearly five million daily users on Web, Android and iOS devices. Play in League, Cup, Champions League or friendly matches. Buy, sell and improve players. Build your own stadium and do what it takes to become a Professional Top Eleven Football Manager in a persistent player-vs-player environment. Watch live matches on your browser, Android or iOS device. Top Eleven offers a unified gaming experience regardless of platform.

Contact:

Nordeus

Milan Djukic

Download the SPIKE TV Video Game Awards’ “Social Game of the Year” to your Android phone or tablet.

YOU DON’T KNOW JACK is the #1 game in the world that contains both fart noises and trivia about Shakespeare.

This free-to-play mobile version includes hundreds of full episodes of everybody’s favorite quiz show trivia game, with new, topical episodes added every week!

“It doesn’t feel like a game made for a tablet. It feels like tablets were made for this game.” – Kotaku.com

We’ve brought back many of your favorite question types, the DisOrDat, the Gibberish Question and the Jack Attack, along with new specialty questions such as Funky Trash, Cookie’s Fortune Cookie Fortunes with Cookie “Fortune Cookie” Masterson, and “Elephant Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt, or Dracula?!”

To succeed at YOU DON’T KNOW JACK, you’ve got to be smart and you’ve got to be quick. Are you up for the challenge?

Free-to-play mobile highlights:

• Play against friends, enemies, or random strangers!
• Unlock fake sponsors and commercials!
• Earn special achievements and more!

Google Play : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jellyvisiongames.YOUDONTKNOWJACK

PunchUp Live is the only app to integrate all LIVE MMA fights with a social game you can play against friends.

As seen on ESPN Sports, Mashable, Tech Crunch & More

Watch Live, Make Predictions, Dominate the leader boards!

Love MMA? PunchUp let’s you to test your prediction skills for live MMA matches. For each fight the user is able to select who they think will win the fight. If you want to take it a step further you can also select how the fighter wins and what round the fight ends. Correct predictions help users climb the leaderboard and increases their token balance.

* Up to the second updates on fight results

* Fight cards available for the 5 upcoming events

* Login Using Facebook or create your own account and challenge your friends

* Chant and Be on the Stands with the built in chat features

* Profile page tracks your pick percentage

* Challenge friends and refuse to lose

FREE TO DOWNLOAD TODAY!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/punchup-live/id643351063?mt=8

Interact with fans inside and around the stadium with aggregated, fan-generated content for the ultimate game-day experience, whether you’re in the crowd or on the couch. Get in the Game™

Fandium a live interactive sports social media aggregator and freeium game, bringing like minded fans together, to interact from home or in the stands during live sporting events

For the Fans. From the Fans.

Fandium® is the all-inclusive social destination for sports fans to get the real story from inside and around the stadium with aggregated, fan-generated content to create the ultimate game-day experience, whether they’re in the crowd or on the couch.

Description

Fandium® is the all-inclusive social game-day destination for sports fans, available as an iOS and Facebook app. Fandium serves as an interactive fan forum, geo-specific social media aggregator and freemium sports challenge network, all in one. Users follow the action of their favorite teams at the stadium and at home with geo-specific photos, up-to-date scores, stats, social commentary and betting odds. The app’s Ureport™ feature lets users contribute commentary through photos or insights, all in real time. Fandium was developed by Conor Sports, LLC, based in Chicago. For more information, visit www.fandium.com.

iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fandium/id623536557?l=en&ls=1&mt=8

King Builds on the Success of Candy Crush Saga Unleashing its Top 10 Facebook Game, Pet Rescue Saga, on Mobile this Summer.

King announces it now has more than 70 million daily players across all platforms and three top 10 Facebook games

San Francisco, CA & London, England – May 16, 2013 – King, the world’s leading cross-platform, bite-sized games company, today announces that it is releasing its popular, top 10 Facebook game,

Pet Rescue Saga, on mobile early this summer. The game, which is the fourth largest overall game on Facebook with more than 5.7 million daily players (DAU), will be available on iOS (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) and on Google Play for Android devices.

Pet Rescue Saga becomes King’s third Saga game to be released on mobile and will further position the company as a leader in mobile games alongside their hit mobile title, Candy Crush Saga, which is one of the most popular titles across Android and iOS in many major markets.

The company also announced that has more than 70 million daily players across all platforms. The company currently has three top 10 Facebook games with Candy Crush Saga (14.7M DAU), Pet Rescue Saga (5.7M DAU) and Far Heroes Saga (4.9M DAU). King’s games have taken the number one application and game slot on Facebook and top grossing app positions on iOS and Android, clocking over 16 billion gameplays per month across mobile, social and online.

“We are completely humbled to have three of our games among the top 10 on Facebook and seeing that our games are attracting over 70 million daily players and 16 billion gameplays a month across all platforms,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and co-founder of King. “Pet Rescue Saga’s fun puzzle challenges have proven to be extremely popular since its release in October.The game quickly became one of the most prevalent games on Facebook and is one we are confident will translate well to mobile.”

Pet Rescue Saga will launch on mobile with over 72 levels, providing a seamless gameplay experience across mobile and Facebook. Players will be able to play the game anywhere, anytime – ensuring their leaderboards, scores and progress are fully synchronized regardless of device.

Pet Rescue Saga features more than 10 cute, animated pets in dire need of help from all kinds of mayhem across a fantastic Saga land that includes both fairytale and urban landscapes. Boosters allow gamers to clear columns
or individual blocks in various ways to make their way through each episode, which includes 5-10 different types of puzzle levels. Players must remove the required number of blocks or save enough pets to move on to the next level. To play Pet Rescue Saga now on Facebook in preparation for the launch on mobile, please visit http://Apps.facebook.com/petrescuesaga.

About King:

King is the world leader in cross-platform, bite-sized games, with more than 16 billion gameplays per month globally. King offers 150 exclusive games in 14 languages through mobile, Facebook and the website www.king.com. The company has offices in London, Stockholm, Barcelona, Bucharest, Hamburg, Malta, Malmo and San Francisco. For more information, visit

http://about.king.com.

C 2013 King.com Ltd. All rights reserved. All other designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contacts:
Paul Brady
Consort Partners

First “troll” social farm game with full pvp, Yeah baby, plant and plow, burn and throw! It’s a wild farm for you to have some fun!

Alpha version of the game is available on our website http://angryfarmer.madsword.com

What is Angry Farmer

Angry Farmer is a new rts (real time strategy) cross-platform social network game but, unlike other “social” games which you play all by yourself and visit your friends only once per day, in Angry Farmer you can play with your buddies all day long.The plot of the game is simple – two players compete with each other for safekeeping of their crops and land. The farmer who manages to destroy the opponent’s field before losing his own is the winner.

So, challenge your friends and other players, gain experience and earn credits to purchase new skills and build your own villa.

Gameplay

Battles are very dynamic and challenging. Harvesting crops will give you coins and replenish your energy. These resources are used for skill activation. Skills are located on the panel below your battlefield. You can choose additional skills during the fight by picking them up from the left bar.

After planting, it takes some time for a plant to bear fruits and afterwards they can easily be picked up simply by dragging the mouse over them.

All the dialogues and achievements are written with love and humor.

Released alpha version of the game. Angry Farmer is available for a sneak peak on our website http://angryfarmer.madsword.com

For more details visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/madsword/angry-farmer-real-time-strategy-cross-platform-soc

Metropoly is a social game which simulates life in a new city, where every player strategizes and builds his own life paths to reach success.

Having grown up in the 80s, we based Metropoly on games we loved to play, such as The Game of Life, Monopoly and Sierra’s Oldie – “Jones in the Fast Lane”. We wanted to create a game that combines the familiar mechanisms of building and maintaining a virtual life, with the advantages of social platforms and advanced technology.

Basically, Metropoly is the place for you to take a moment off your life, and see what life could have been like if you had just planned it out differently…If you had chosen a different career path, eaten something else for lunch, or married your high school sweetheart.

Metropoly’s town is composed of many different establishments that you’d find in any town – a diner, a restaurant, a bar, a bank, a college, a casino, a movie theater, and more.

We are currently inviting brands to participate in the game and use it as an advertising platform. With just $2K or $4k (depending on the chosen package), we will embed the brand’s data into the game. “Name of BRAND” will be one of the official Metropoly establishments, and players will be able to play directly on the brand facebook page, or through Metropoly’s main portal, and see what the brand is offering while they’re playing.

For example, if the brand is McDonalds, we would build a McDonald’s restaurant in Metropoly, and players will be able to eat anything off the menu, or “work” there as cooks.

We believe this could be an exciting and innovative way to advertise brands in a way that’s fun, safe for the brand, engaging, and integral to gaming experience.

A brand that will choose to participate, our creative team will analyze its brand and make it fit perfectly in Metropoly.
This opportunity is currently limited to kickstarter contributors.

You can check out our campaign page right here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/533604527/metropoly

Bingo Rider, Akamon Entertainment’s first game for mobile devices, is available in the Apple AppStore starting 1st May.

Akamon Entertainment, the leading social gaming company specializing in traditional and casino games in Southern Europe and Latin America, launches its first game for mobile devices, doing so with a game that recently has been recognized internationally as the best social bingo product in the market, at the EGR Operator Awards 2012.

Bingo Rider is a 90-ball multiplayer social bingo game where users share their gameplay experience with the shared-liquidity Akamon community of over 11 million players in real-time, regardless of which platform each player uses, allowing them to play with portal or Facebook users, synchronously.

This new mobile gaming experience offers multiple levels and gifts and includes new social elements with collectible cards and a chat option in the iPad version. In the words of David Jané, Head of Bingo at Akamon Entertainment, “We have developed a mobile game that allows users to pair the game with other tasks and have an exceptional gaming experience shared with other users, translating the success of the online game to new interactive screens and emphasizing the social aspects, reproducing the experience of a real, traditional bingo game in the palms of your hand.”

Bingo Rider is available for free on the AppStore, and users receive 5000 chips and 50 cards with their download, so they can play for free. In addition, following Akamon’s freemium business model, users can purchase virtual chips to improve their playing experience and accelerate the progression of levels.

Vicenç Martí, CEO of Akamon Entertainment, emphasizes “the company’s veritable leap with the new offering of mobile games, particularly in the Latin American markets, with Brazil at the forefront, where already more people use smartphones and tablets than PCs and where more users want to play on their smartphones every day.”

According to Martí, “The launch of Bingo Rider and 5 other mobile games throughout 2013 is the first step to turn Akamon into a mobile-First company, and will allow Akamon to consolidate its position as a main player in social gaming throughout the company’s natural markets -Latin America and Southern Europe- and exponentially grow the number of registered users, projecting a total of 20 million users by the end of the year.”

In its first week available at the Apple’s Appstore, Bingo Rider reached the top position in the categories of board and casino games in all Akamon’s strategic markets -Spain, France, Argentina, Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia standing out-, and keeps on Top 10 of these categories in most Latin American and European markets.

Akamon plans to launch the Android version of Bingo Rider before the end of Q2 2013.

]]> http://www.socialgaminghub.com/akamon-launches-bingo-rider-its-first-game-for-mobile-devices/feed 0 http://www.socialgaminghub.com/bubble-gum-interactive-partners-with-virtual-world-licensing-at-new-media-for-space-heroes-universe-licensing-program-in-uk-and-emea http://www.socialgaminghub.com/bubble-gum-interactive-partners-with-virtual-world-licensing-at-new-media-for-space-heroes-universe-licensing-program-in-uk-and-emea#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 14:25:17 +0000 Kiran Voleti http://www.socialgaminghub.com/?p=3165

Sydney, Australia – 2nd May 2013 2013 – Bubble Gum Interactive, the award-winning developer of highly compelling games, today announced the start of a new licensing partnership with Virtual World Licensing & AT New Media to focus on their rapidly growing kids online game Space Heroes Universe!

With a true focus on storytelling Space Heroes Universe is a multi-platform brand experience with an epic intergalactic adventure being told via the virtual world, mobile games and an animated cartoon series. . Nearly 2 million players from around the world have signed up for adventure. In the free-to-play game, kids can personalise their hero, adopt virtual pet Kritterz, make new friends and explore an ever expanding galaxy full of quests, adventure and fun. Rated E for Everyone and certified kidSAFE+, Space Heroes Universe is a hit with kids and parents, having secured Creative Child Magazine’s 2012 Game of the Year as well as the Mom’s Choice Awards Silver Medal and a Parent’s Choice Approved Award.

Virtual World Licensing & AT New Media are leading UK based licensing agencies specializing in the world of gaming and toys. With a team of interactive games and toy licensing experts they represent a growing portfolio of global game brands. Leveraging core brand strengths they create high performing toy and merchandising opportunities that extend these virtual brands to the physical world.

“Whether exploring the galaxy in our award-winning kids virtual world, jetting off for adventure in our mobile game or following the adventures of our space heroes in our online cartoons, our fans are continually looking for new ways to enjoy the Space Heroes Universe! story.” said Phil Mason, CEO, Bubble Gum Interactive

“Virtual World Licensing & AT New Media understand the unique nuances of game brands and will no doubt bring some amazing Space Heroes Universe! merchandise to our European fans.”

“Space Heroes Universe is precisely the type of property we look for with a unique and compelling story that can translate into a successful merchandising program.” said Steve Reece, CEO, Virtual World Licensing “With its strong UK presence and a rapidly growing fanbase in the EMEA, we’re certain Space Heroes fans will be delighted to extend their experience.”

Kids can strap on their jetpacks, fire up their starjets and blast off for adventure at www.spaceheroes.com

About Bubble Gum Interactive

Bubble Gum Interactive is an independent game development studio headquartered in Sydney, Australia. Our mission is to create compelling and engaging gaming experiences with a focus on fun, creativity, quality and story. Our first game, Space Heroes Universe! is a multi-award winning kids virtual world in which players create their own hero and explore a galaxy full of fun and adventure. Our first game for mobile, Jetpack Jinx is available for Google Play and Apple iOS with more games launching in 2013. Discover more at www.bubbleguminteractive.com

About Virtual World Licensing & AT New Media

Virtual World Licensing was founded by Toy industry veteran Steve Reece to facilitate the entry of digital brands into the toy market. Steve previously worked for Hasbro, Activision and Imagination. He has managed Toy companies and ventures trading in over 60 countries worldwide, managed in excess of 200 commercial & licensing contracts and worked with brands valued at $billions in value. AT New Media is run by Simon Kay, the company offers consultancy and agency services that are solely focussed on licensing opportunities within the digital games, and gaming market. For more information, please go to www.VirtualWorldLicensing.com or www.atnewmedia.com