Social Gaming Roundup: THQ, Supercell, Sim City, & More

THQ Brings Margaritaville to Facebook and iOS -- Core games developer THQ has announced a new Facebook and iOS inspired by Jimmy Buffett this week. Margaritaville Online is slated to release this fall and will allow users to create their own tropical paradise and explore an open world of parties and mini-games. EA to Make Sim City, Simpsons Facebook Game -- In a brief post from MCV, it would seem that Electronic Arts is looking to bring another piece of major intellectual property to Facebook. The Simpsons franchise is stated to make its social gaming debut in September. Additionally, the coming of a Facebook rendition of SimCity has also been noted. Raptr Launches Personalized News Feed -- Gaming social networking platform Raptr has launched a new personalized news feed feature for its users that is not unlike a Facebook news feed. The addition will not only display news that comes from other users, but will also show news relevant to players based on what games they are currently playing. Supercell Raises $12 Million -- Finnish games developer Supercell has raised $12 million in a round led by Accel Partners this week. The funding is stated to be used for real-time social games with a much larger scope than traditional social titles, yet less complex than an MMOG. Gree Invests in Hand -- Japanese company, Gree is looking to grow stronger in the social gaming category. As such, according to Adriasang, Gree has announced that it will be investing in Japanese social game developer Hand via a stock purchase. Men Outspend Women on Mobile Virtual Goods -- According to a survey from MocoSpace, men outspend women 9 to 1 when it comes to buying virtual goods in mobile social games. Of the 1,500 users that participated, men not only played slightly longer (21 minutes versus 19 minutes for women), but 69 percent also bought virtual goods. 31 percent of women did the same. [image via VentureBeat] Media Should Mimic Social Games -- At the eG8 forum in Paris earlier this week, Mark Zuckerberg made his views known regarding Facebook and media such as music and movies. While he states that Facebook has no intention of offering these services itself, he does believe that both industries could benefit from going social in the same way that social games have, drawing parallels to companies such as Zynga and Playfish. According to him, "These industries can be rebuilt from the ground up with social. The opportunities when you make these companies social are a lot bigger than they are (in their current form).”

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Social Gaming Roundup: THQ, Supercell, Sim City, & More

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack