Social Gaming Roundup: Zynga, News Corp, DeNA, & More

Electronic Arts Reports Q2 Results -- Electronic Arts has reported its fiscal numbers for the second quarter of the year. Non-GAAP revenues were around $884 million, a 23% decrease year-over-year, while digital revenues, which include mobile devices, Facebook and the web, rose 20 percent to $166 million. VentureBeat has more. DeNA Reports Second Quarter Numbers -- Tokyo-based social games company DeNA reported its second quarter results for the fiscal year with a total of $336.4 million in revenue, marking a 216% year-over-year increase. The company is also boasting of average revenue per user (ARPU) 15 times higher than Zynga and 30 times higher than Facebook, though it didn't give exact numbers. OMGPOP Raising More Funding -- Social and casual games developer OMGPOP is considering a round of $10 million, says All Things Digital. The round is reportedly still being closed, but the investors could include Bessemer Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Softbank Capital NY. News Corp Acquires Making Fun -- Media company News Corp has acquired a small social company, Making Fun, this past week, again reported by All Things Digital. The year-old startup will be added the the company's games unit and focus on making social titles for Facebook, MySpace, iPhone, and Android. Vindicia Raises $20 million -- In yet more financial news, online payments company Vindicia is also raising funds this week. VentureBeat notes that the the company has raised $20 million in a fifth round of funding. [Rumor] BOKU Considering a Buyout -- Mobile payments company BOKUcould become the latest acquisition target of either Apple or Google, according to TechCrunch, which reports that both BOKU president and CEO Mark Britto and co-founder Ron Hirson met with execs including Google director of engineering Michael Morrissey (who oversees parts of Google Mobile Services for the Android). Chinese Government Policing Social Games -- The Chinese state has taken under-the-table action against social games ranging from publishing propaganda about specific titles to creating unfavorable terminology, according to a post from TechCrunch. Although China doesn't appear to be readying out outright ban, it is also "harmonizing" games to remove even the most remotely violent or anti-social concepts. Virtual Goods More Important Than Ads -- EA senior executives found that advertising was far inferior to virtual goods marketing in Battlefield Heroes, according to the London Games Conference covered by GameSpot. Replacing ads for outside brands with ads for virtual goods produced 300 times more revenue. Additionally, John Earner of Playfish's European studios suggested that within two years, 20 percent of the company's revenue would come through virtual goods. Zynga Becomes a Top Target for Internet Scammers -- Internet navigation and security service OpenDNS released new statistics from PhishTank.com this week. Among all targets found, Zynga was marked as the number 6 most targeted brand by Internet scammers.

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Social Gaming Roundup: Zynga, News Corp, DeNA, & More

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