Social gaming news roundup: Social Vibe, Mail.ru and Game Closure

Social gaming market to be worth $5 billion by 2015 -- BI Intelligence is predicting the US social gaming market will be worth more than $5 billion by 2015, and will be propelled the the strength of tablet computers. The US social gaming market is currently worth about $3 billion by BI’s estimates. Mail.ru revenues up 59 percent year-on-year, reports $207.6 million in net profit -- Russian social network Mail.ru has reported its total revenues increased 59 percent year-on-year in 2011 to $515 million. The company's net profit was $207.6 million, up 157 percent year-on-year. According to Mail.ru, mobile usage is now a major growth driver, with 43 percent of monthly users accessing the site from mobile devices. Pachter: social gaming “not a bubble” -- Noted industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities has gone on record saying social games are an integral part of the gaming experience. “As for the social bubble, I don’t think it’s a bubble. I play Facebook games with my mother. This is not a bubble,” he said at the [A]List games marketing summit, according to VentureBeat’s report. Nexon invests in Moyasoft -- Nexon has acquired a 19.9 percent stake in South Korean social game maker Moyasoft, according to a report from Gamasutra. Nexon will working with Moyasoft to bring its games to international markets. Social Vibe engaged users for almost 54 years in 2011 -- Digital advertising company Social Vibe has reported several interesting milestones for 2011. During the year the company doubled the number of engagement ads served. The company also reported consumers watched the company’s ads for more than 1.7 billion seconds (54 years) during the year. Social Vibes reported that the average user spent 63 seconds with a Social Vibes ad. Planet Cazmo secures funding, starts licensed content division -- Entertainment portal Planet Cazmo has announced the formation of HappyGiant, a division of the company that will focus on creating licensed content for Facebook and smartphones. The company also announced it had received new funding from the Pritzker/Vlock Family Office Portfolio, but declined to specify the amount. The company is currently working on games for celebrities, films and comic books. Viximo and Gaia Interactive Ink distribution Partnership -- Global social game publisher Viximo has signed a deal with Gaia Interactive to bring several of its client games to Gaia Online and assist Gaia in launching its game Monster Galaxy on a variety of international social networks. Advertising Agency BBH gets into the social games business -- AdAge is reporting that advertising agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) has opened its own social gaming studio. Named Chuck Studios, the company will make branded games for BBH client Perfetti Van Melle. The company’s first game is live on Facebook. Bigpoint partners with GamesAnalytics for its free-to-play games -- Bigpoint has signed a deal with monetization and analytics company GamesAnalytics to incorporate GamesAnalytics' Predict platform into its games. Predict uses data-mining and predictive modeling to help developers target specific groups of players with customized messages and offers. [Funding] HTML5 game maker Game Closure raises $12 million -- HTML5 game development tool maker Game Closure has raised $12 million in Series A funding from Highland Capital Partners, Greylock, Benchmark, General Catalyst and CRV according to VentureBeat. The company’s JavaScript game SDK allows developers to create game that will run natively on mobile, tablet and browser devices. [Launch] Pirates: Tides of Fortune moves to Facebook -- Plarium’s pirate-themed social game is now available on Facebook, following the expiration of its 30 day exclusivity period on Google+. The game was previously available on Vkontakte.

Social Pro Daily

Social gaming news roundup: Social Vibe, Mail.ru and Game Closure

Kathleen De Vere

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Kathleen De Vere