Social Gaming Roundup: E3, Zynga, Health, & More

Zynga Getting Better About Domain Name Secrecy -- Zynga has previously dropped clues on upcoming releases with trademark applications and domain registrations, however, as spotted by Fusible, the company is getting more secretive about both. As an example, Empires & Allies didn't have a trademark filing until the day of announcement in the U.S. Additionally, in order to help remain incognito with domain registrations that show up on GoDaddy, the company is registering under @yahoo.com email extensions instead of @zynga.com. EA Adds to Its Social Games Lineup -- Electronic Arts made some social game announcements at E3 this week, showing off a Facebook version of one of its most popular franchises with The Sims Social, which we highlighted earlier this week. EA is also teaming up with Hasbro to bring yet another title to Facebook in the form of RISK: Factions. The social strategy game is currently in closed beta, but EA did display an amusing trailer at E3, spoofing that of Blizzard Entertainment's StarCraft II. Playdom Prepares for War with City of Might -- Social developer Playdom revealed its own entry into Facebook's rapidly swelling strategy genre with City of Might, announced at E3. The upcoming game as described by Games.com is a combination of a city builder and strategy game in which users collect resources to build structures and units in order to invade the cities of other players. [image via Games.com] 2010 Digital Revenue Equates to $5.9 Billion -- The Entertainment Software Association, chief organizing body of E3, released a study that states that the primary driver of the game industry's growth is digital. According to the report, digitally downloaded games, add-on content, mobile apps, subscriptions, and social games made up 24% of all game-based sales in 2010, equaling $5.9 billion in revenue. Majesco Expands Socially -- Video game publisher Majesco Entertainment announced several acquisitions from Quick Hit Inc. in order to expand Majesco's social games reach. Additionally, Quick Hit founder and CEO Jeffrey Anderson will join Majesco as its senior vice president of social games. Moshi Monsters Exceeds 50 Million Users -- Mind Candy announced that its social virtual world for kids, Moshi Monsters, broke the 50 million registered user mark. According to the announcement, 15 million of those users are in North America. Businesses Seek to Use Social Games to Improve Health -- According to The Wall Street Journal, Keas Inc. and Redbrick Health Corp. are hoping to help companies cut health-care costs by improving employee health through social gaming. Through their respective social gaming services, they hope to use social mechanics to coax workers into eating properly and exercising through the use of mechanics such as prizes, incentives, achievements, and so on. Zynga to Limit Shares for IPO -- According to the New York Post, Zynga is planning to limit the number of shares in its initial public offering. The number of shares is being estimated at 10 percent or less. Zynga Opens Dublin, Ireland Office -- In more Zynga news, the company has officially opened its largest European office and multilingual operations centre in Dublin, Ireland. The office is said to include customer support, community management, and support functions (e.g. IT, human resources, etc.).

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Social Gaming Roundup: E3, Zynga, Health, & More

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack