1）据venturebeat报道，传统游戏发行商动视暴雪首席技术官Thomas Tippl日前表示，公司可能将“有条不紊地向手机及社交游戏项目投资”。

但该公司高管的看法似乎颇有分歧，目前还难以判断动视暴雪对这一新兴游戏领域的具体看法如何。

call-of-duty-elite-social-network(from games)

Activision Publishing首席执行官Eric Hirshberg不久前还在Gamescom大会上表示，“（手机及社交游戏）这一领域的一些公司估值被抬高了”。此外，他还曾在一个论坛上发言表示，“《使命召唤》的付费玩家数量远超过任何一款Facebook游戏，我们游戏的玩家每用户平均消费额也高于任何Facebook游戏”。

更值得注意的是，在Hirshberg发表此番言论之前，动视暴雪首席执行官Bobby Kotick曾透露“公司正着手准备开发Facebook游戏”。

2）手机社交游戏平台OpenFeint日前宣布其SDK推出一项信息交叉推广更新功能GameFeed，方便玩家掌握OpenFeint平台游戏的实时更新动态。

OpenFeint-GameFeed(from androidappmobile)

据该公司所称，目前有24家测试合作伙伴发现游戏的每用户访问率平均提高了25%，有些游戏的每用户平均访问率甚至提高了60%左右。

3）美国宇航局曾在四年前展开了一项太空电子游戏大赛，鼓励开发商创建兼具教育性和趣味性的太空游戏，加拿大开发商Project Whitecard于日前向大众融资网站Kickstarter发布了一个预告视频，请求大众资助这个名为《Moon,Mars & Beyond》的游戏项目。

Moon,Mars & Beyond(from games)

这款MMO游戏背景是2035年的太空世界，支持玩家在太阳系星际间旅行和探险，并拜访不同星球的好友和陌生人。据开发商所称，这款游戏相当于“太空中的《哈利波特》”，玩家一切活动都与Arthur C. Clarke宇航学院太空站相关（游戏邦注：它相当于《哈利波特》中的霍格华兹魔法学校）。

假如融资顺利进行，该游戏有望在2012年12月登陆PC、Mac和iOS平台。

4）英国跨平台游戏网站TeePee Games日前与莫库瑞凤凰基金会合作，推出纪念Freddie Mercury（上个世纪英国著名摇滚乐队Queen的主唱，于1991年因艾滋病与世长辞）和抵抗艾滋病活动“Freddie For a Day”，TeePee Games承诺将把在9月5日当天（游戏邦注：那天是Freddie Mercury的生日）20%的收益捐献给莫库瑞凤凰基金会。

Freddie-Mercury(from clickonenglish.blogspot.com)

TeePee Games在去年融资50万美元后推出了一个支持用户通过Facebook、网页和手机平台搜索游戏的应用，但目前该应用的月活跃用户尚不足12.5万。观察者认为，TeePee Games目前在Facebook平台影响力有限，甚至不得不在今年2月推出免费赠送iPad的活动以吸引用户参与测试，该公司本次与莫库瑞凤凰基金会的合作能否扭转形势仍然有待观望。

5）日本发行商Capcom最近宣布将通过收购与合作，推动其在线游戏的海外销售。

据该公司所称，他们无意考虑与日本大型玩具或游戏制造商合并，因为此举并不能促进其海外游戏销售，而且可能会限制其潜在授权发展机遇。

Capcom-logo(from gotgame.com)

首次与西方公司合作是在2010年收购Blue Castle Games（现更名为Capcom Game Studio Vancouver，代表作是《Dead Rising 2》），它去年在北美和欧洲市场份额仅1.6%（在两地分别位居第13和第14名），而在日本却以11%的市场份额居于第三名。

观察者认为，Capcom的盒装游戏业务正不断下滑，该公司在未来数年或将致力于扩大在线游戏业务。

6）硬核游戏《辐射3》开发商Bethesda高管Pete Hines在日前的媒体采访中表示，Facebook和手机游戏并非他们的兴趣所在，也并非他们所熟悉的领域。

Elder Scrolls(from games)

该公司之收购了《毁灭战士》开发商id Software，目前正加紧制作第五款《Elder Scrolls》游戏，预计于今年11月11日发布该游戏。尽管目前社交游戏领域已有8000万硬核玩家，但Bethesda却并不认为公司可以通过Facebook有效吸引更多用户。

7）Gamezebo近日走访社交游戏开发商Kabam工作室，并拍摄发布了该公司办公环境的一组照片：

Kabam成员Catherine Nguyen的爱犬穿着球衣(from gamezebo)

QA经理Daniel Kim的小狗(from gamezebo)

Kabam CEO Kevin Chou(from gamezebo)

Kabam成员的工作氛围(from gamezebo)

Kabam的纸杯蛋糕(from gamezebo)

吃蛋糕大赛(from gamezebo)

Kabam与其他公司对决的足球赛(from gamezebo)

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

1）Activision Blizzard ‘methodically investing in mobile and social gaming’

by Joe Osborne

Can this love-hate relationship between veteran games publisher Activision Blizzard and Facebook games end now? VentureBeat reports that, during an analyst meeting, Activision CFO Thomas Tippl said that the company is “methodically investing in mobile and social gaming projects.” Tippl also went into how the publisher could make a whopping $1.25 billion from new projects that seek new, non-traditional sources of revenue like micro-transactions and in-game purchases. You know, like Facebook and mobile social games?

However, there seems to be a major disconnect in the company’s overall ideology between executives, unless Activision is simply telling the right folks what they want to hear. Recently, Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg said, “Valuations of some of the companies in that space are out of whack,” to Bloomberg at this year’s Gamescom event in Cologne, Germany. In the very same interview, Hirshberg hinted that the Call of Duty (pictured) pusher is looking into social games.

And before then, Hirshberg said during the 13th Annual Pacific Crest Global Technology Leadership Forum that, “Call of Duty has more players who pay-to-play online than any Facebook game, and our players pay more per player on average than any Facebook game.”

What’s even better is that before Hirshberg came to hardcore gaming’s defense, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick outright revealed that “a lot of work is being done on Facebook games” within the company. Now, it’s completely fine for traditional publishers to get into new distribution models than your tried, true and tired retail stores–just look at, well, everybody else.

However, it seems that at least some Activision Blizzard folks are entering Facebook and mobile games kicking and screaming, based on what Hirshberg has been saying compared to his colleagues. (Though, neither Kotick nor Tippl sound particularly thrilled about the whole ordeal, either.)

That said, the publisher would definitely benefit from a more unified–and a little more chipper, eh?–message if it wants to convince Facebook and mobile gamers to hop on board. And based on the way Activision Blizzard has been talking about its social game efforts, we just can’t wait to see these games.（source:games）

2）OpenFeint SDK Adds New Cross-Promotional Social Newsfeed

by Frank Cifaldi

Leading mobile social gaming network OpenFeint has announced a social gaming newsfeed for cross-promotional updates called GameFeed, available now in the OpenFeint SDK.

GameFeed’s newsfeed provides players with real-time updates across OpenFeint’s network of games, providing social information that includes updated player profiles and information from developers.

According to the company, 24 beta participants saw sessions-per-user increase by an average of 25 percent, with some showing growth as high as 60 percent.

“Sessions per user is a key engagement component of lifetime value and GameFeed significantly increases engagement at no additional cost to developers,” said OpenFeint founder and CEO Jason Citron in a statement.

More information on GameFeed — as well as download information for the SDK — is available on this page.（source:gamasutra）

3）NASA to create space-themed social game combining in-depth education with fun

by Brandy Shaul

A few years ago, NASA held a research challenge looking for a developer and game proposal for an educational, space-themed video game that could not only be extremely educational, but also fun and commercially viable. Now, four years later, we’ve started to see the fruits of that challenge, as Canadian developer Project Whitecard has created a Kickstarter video preview, asking the public at large for donations to boost the project along (for the record, its goal has already been met).

The game is called Astronaut: Moon, Mars & Beyond, and it will play like an MMO set in the year 2035. Space flight for the average citizen is now not only available, but actually encouraged, as players will make their way through our solar system (and potentially beyond), landing on Mars and exploring other celestial bodies with both friends and strangers alike. In the game’s story, a threat to “civilization as we know it” has emerged, and you’ll need to build a base somewhere in outer space (yes, Mars is an option) and eventually outfit a team of other players or potentially NPCs (non-player characters) with high-tech gear to fight back.

Astronauts is described by the developers as being Harry Potter in space, as players are centered around the Arthur C. Clarke Astronaut Academy Station, which is the game’s version of “Hogwarts.” We’ll be assigned missions in this fictional version of outer space, and can then go about our business in either player vs. environment or team vs. team modes. True scientific challenges will appear in the game, as we’ll need to worry about radiation, extreme heat or cold and other elements that true-to-life astronauts and NASA as a whole must deal with everyday.

If everything goes well for Project Whitecard, we can expect to see the full launch of Astronaut: Moon, Mars & Beyond on PC, Mac and iOS in December of 2012. Sure, that’s a long time to wait, but hey – space is a pretty big place to recreate.（source:games）

4）Fight HIV and AIDS with TeePee Games by playing Facebook games

by Jenny Ng

It’s another games for good moment as TeePee Games, a British games portal, partners with the Mercury Phoenix Trust to celebrate the life of legendary Queen frontman Freddie Mercury and fight HIV/AIDS. The event, titled “Freddie For a Day” occurs yearly, on Mercury’s September 5th birthday.

So what does this partnership entail? Well, the event is strictly a means to raise awareness, but TeePee Games is promising to donate 20 percent of whatever profits they make on the 5th to the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

The amount of money is entirely dependent on how many people log in and play games at TeePee Games between the hours of midnight to 11:59 p.m. of British Summer Time. If you live outside of the UK, you can click here to find out when you should be playing to be counted towards this charity event.

TeePee Games landed on Facebook last November after being funded $500K to create an app to help online, Facebook, and mobile players find free games they’d like. Fast forward to now, the app drew in an all-time monthly high of less than 125K users.

With each Facebook games update making it more and more obsolete, the TeePee Games App has been falling in numbers ever since. Earlier this February, the company even dangled a free iPad to entice people to sign up as beta testers.

We’ll find out by Monday if this event could be a potential numbers boost for them, though the company’s CEO, Tony Pearce, claims, “We’re all huge Queen fans in the office.” They even decked out their Gerry the Gopher mascot in a Freddie Mercury getup.（source:games）

5）Capcom ‘Aggressively’ Seeking Partnerships, But Not In Japan

by Frank Cifaldi

In a note to investors, Capcom officials this week said that the company is seeking to increase its online game sales outside of Japan through acquisitions and partnerships.

“Acquisitions and partnerships are one of the important strategies for increasing our market share overseas,” reads the unsigned note, reaffirming previous statements to its investors.

“We aggressively seek the opportunities of acquisitions and partnerships for the purposes of creating game content with universal market appeal and acquiring technologies and know-how required for our ‘Single Content Multiple Usage’ strategy,” it continues.

According to the note, the company is not considering a merger with a large Japanese toy or game manufacturer, as this would not significantly contribute to sales outside of the region and, further, might limit its licensing potential.

“We believe choosing an appropriate partner company that complements our strengths will lead to subsequent successful acquisition and contribute to the growth of our business,” says the note. “The first objective, therefore, is to form partnerships that meet our needs as well as those of our partners.”

Capcom’s first major push into a western-aimed partnership focus was 2010′s acquisition of Blue Castle Games (now Capcom Game Studio Vancouver), the studio behind Dead Rising 2.

The company’s projected best-selling game for 2011, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is also being developed by a western studio: Vancouver-based Slant Six Games.

The company has recently stressed its plan to focus on western markets. According to the company, its market share in both North America and Europe was only 1.6 percent (ranked 13th and 14th, respectively) last year, compared to the third-ranked 11 percent it commands in Japan.

While packaged goods continue to be Capcom’s biggest money driver for the immediate future, the company is expecting its online business to grow substantially over the coming years while its packaged business ultimately declines.（source:gamasutra）

6）Facebook games are ‘not where our interests lie,’ Fallout 3 maker says

by Joe Osborne

So, no post-apoc mutant murder fests on Facebook then, huh? During an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Fallout 3 creator Bethesda’s Pete Hines said, “That’s not where our interests lie,” referring to Facebook and mobile games. “That’s not what we’re known for and it’s not the kind of stuff we’ve traditionally done.”

Bethesda, which recently acquired Doom creator–and Loot Drop founder John Romero’s original stomping ground–id Software, is currently working to release the fifth Elder Scrolls game, Skyrim (pictured). The game looks like it will certainly grab several Game of the Year nods when it releases to consoles Nov. 11. But even as future Game of the Year contenders like Mass Effect 3 could be getting the Facebook treatment, Bethesda simply doesn’t see the connection.

“I guess I would put it this way: I want to make the kind of games that somebody who likes Rage would want to play, and who likes Skyrim would want to play, and there’s a much clearer path from the guy who likes Rage is also probably going to like Skyrim also probably likes Prey 2 also probably likes Dishonored, or at least there’s a much bigger chance of moving an audience from one to the next,” Hines said to GamesIndustry.biz.

Basically, despite the fact that hardcore social gamers near 80 million, Hines doesn’t see Bethesda effectively reaching its audience through Facebook. Well, it’s either that or Hines doesn’t buy that a large enough portion of its audience could be there.

While Hine said that he wouldn’t want to “go off and do something that is completely different that we don’t have a lot of expertise and knowledge of,” he fails to mention how most of its competitors got into this at all: buying out folks that do know. Fine Bethesda, I didn’t want Skyrim on Facebook anyway (still totally buying it)!（source:games）

7）Gamezebo Cribs: Kabam edition

By Andrew Webster

Our next subject on Gamezebo Cribs has made a name for itself crafting deep strategy games on Facebook. Games like Global Warfare, Edgeworld, and the upcoming The Godfather: Five Families. Of course we’re talking about Kabam. But while the developer’s games may be rather serious, it looks like there’s quite a bit of fun and games around the office. Join us on a tour full of cute dogs, tasty cupcakes, and some snazzy soccer jerseys.（source:gamezebo）