Social Gaming Roundup: Rixty, Ubisoft, CrowdStar, & More

McDonald's & FarmVille Team Up -- McDonald's and Zynga announced a special, one-day campaign in which FarmVille players could visit a McDonald's virtual farm (treated like a "Neighbor Farm") and earn unique rewards, including a McCafe FarmVille Consumable for extra energy and a McDonald's Hot Air Balloon decoration. [Rumor] DeNA to Aquire Ngmoco? -- According to TechCrunch, Japanese games company, DeNA could be looking into acquiring mobile and social developer ngmoco. Though nothing is confirmed, rumors state that the price of acquisition is above $400 million. MyTown Goes Global -- Booyah's popular location-based title, MyTown, is going global this week. Now, players will be able to check in at any worldwide location within a country that supports the Apple App Store and Google Places. CrowdStar Expansion Plans -- Thursday, social developer CrowdStar announced plans to accelerate growth in both Japan and the United States throughout the remainder of 2010 and part of 2011. Beyond hiring more staff, the company is launching both Happy Aquarium and Happy Island on Yahoo! Mobage in Japan, is planning several new Facebook games through December of this year, and will be launching mobile versions of all its Facebook titles through partnerships with other companies in its incubator, YouWeb. Hi5 Launches Teaser Site for Project SocioPath -- Hi5 has launched a new teaser site for its upcoming project, dubbed "Sociopath", which is supposed to spread games through viral channels outside of Facebook and make it easier for developers to communicate with their audiences through multiple channels. Google & PayPal May Be Set on Android Payments System -- TheStreet.com is reporting that Google and eBay's PayPal have have sealed the deal to would provide the Android Market with a much needed payment system. Thus far, Google has declined comment. Tech Investors to Launch New Social Games Startup -- Tech investors Nich Hanauer and Rich Barton are set to start a new social gaming company called King of the Web, according to The Seattle Times. It is expected to launch in December. Further details have yet to be revealed. Ubisoft to Use PlaySpan Payments Platform -- French developer Ubisoft is working with PlaySpan to manage its virtual goods transaction and ecommerce needs. The first game title to make use of the platform will be their newest MMOG, Might & Magic: Heroes Kingdoms. Free-to-Play Games Grow Outside of Social -- Turbine announced at GDC Online that its MMOG, Lord of the Rings Online, has doubled its revenue since it switched to the model over a subscription-based one. Monopoly Coming to Facebook -- More news out of the GDC Online, as Playfish COO, Sebastien de Halleux noted that the classic board game Monopoly is coming to Facebook. PetVille to Gain New Features -- Games.com is reporting a nice little leak of new content for PetVille players. called PetVille Neighborhoods. Though details are unavailable, it appears that players will be able to leave their homes and interact with the surrounding neighborhood. Rixty Expands to Mobile & Announces New Partners -- Alternative payment platform Rixty is expanding beyond online games and virtual goods to encompass mobile, music, and video content. In line with this announcement, the company also revealed new partners including Grooveshark, NFLRush Zone, Cruncyroll, mBuzzy, KlickNation, Emagist, CyberStep, and GCrest. Boku Partners with Vodafone UK -- Mobile payments provider Boku announced a new partnership with Vodafone UK, says VentureBeat. Through the deal, users will be able to make purchases ranging from 5 pence to £30 (8 cents to $47). Nexon Invests in BoomBang Games -- The South Korean developer of MapleStory, Nexon, has invested in Barcelona-based developer BoomBang Games. According to VentureBeat, Nexon has acquired 32% of the company's shares with the goal of building up its community-based titles in Latin America.

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Social Gaming Roundup: Rixty, Ubisoft, CrowdStar, & More

Christopher Mack

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