Social Game Companies In Europe Shy From IPO

European social game companies Mind Candy and Sulake have revealed that they’re not looking for an IPO, despite high valuations put on U.S. start-ups. They said that they wanted to grow their businesses before launching an IPO.

“I just want to keep my head down and build an amazing brand without getting too distracted by the offers of IPOs, investment bankers and discussions with media companies,” said Michael Acton Smith, CEO of Mind Candy, makers of Moshi Monsters. “An IPO is something that we’re considering but I think it’s too early. There’s still a huge amount of value to be built.”

French mobile developer Gameloft’s Chief Financial Officer Alexandre de Rochefort thinks there’s a bit of a bubble in the U.S. IPO market. “I am sorry but when Zynga is worth $10 billion something is a bit strange” said de Rochefort. “If this is not a bubble, I don’t know what is.”

Source: Reuters

L.A. Noire Smash Hit In U.K.

According to the sales trackers at Chart-Track, L.A. Noire was the fastest-selling new intellectual property ever in the U.K. No specific sales numbers were released, though sales were said to be on par with last year’s hit Rockstar title Red Dead Redemption.

L.A. Noire started out as a PS3 exclusive title, though the split of sales in the U.K. was 58 percent for the Xbox 360 version and 42 percent for the PS3. Overall, L.A. Noire was the number 13 on the list of fastest-selling Xbox 360 games of all time in the U.K. while it was number 11 for fastest-selling on the PS3.

Get Ready To Race In Nascar 2011: The Game

Die hard racing fans are counting down the days until the release of Nascar 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii and Activision and Eutechnyx have brought the online community together on the official website, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. On the official forums, fans can browse video tutorials and brush up on their drafting technique, learn how to use the rewind feature or learn what to do when they are damaged and need to get to the pit. Across all channels, fans were directed to access and download screenshots, wallpapers dev diaries as well as access to an exclusive developer interviews at the elite PS3 community site The Racing Elite with Gareth Wright, lead designer of Nascar 2011.

L.A. Noire Director Sees Game Appealing to Women

L.A. Noire, with its authentic 1940’s setting and noir detective drama, it’s appeal is potentially different than most games on the market. To Team Bondi writer and director Brendan McNamara, he thinks the fairer sex will like it in particular.

“We think it appeals to a really broad church and one of the phenomenons [sic] we’ve seen a lot when we watch people play the game is that they’ll play it, or their wife or their girlfriend will play it, and two or three people will play it together like they’re watching TV, McNamara said. “Three people can be entertained playing the same game and that’s a bit of a phenomenon. So far it’s been very appealing to women too, which is great. I think women are pretty good at reading whether people are lying or not.”

Source: CVG

BioWare Looking At New Genres, Concepts

BioWare has developed a reputation for its RPGs, though the Canadian developer has worked on a variety of games over its history. Still, BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk thinks the opportunity is right for them to expand out of their current comfort zone.

“As we look forward, that’s something we consider more and more,” said Zeschuk. “It’s interesting, I think. You can imagine the cop drama set in the Mass Effect sort of framework. You can imagine a spy adventure in that context. I think actually that what’s happened is our ability to conceive and understand different game contexts has evolved. Then that starts opening up new platforms into things that are maybe less traditional than we have historically [done].

“We’re not confirming anything today,” he continued, “but it’s something we discuss a lot, because one of the things we want to do is really try and broaden our appeal, broaden our reach, sell more units, get more fans.”

Source: Gamasutra

CityVille Gets Down With Kung Fu Panda 2

Zynga has announced that they are partnering with DreamWorks. They will align their biggest game, CityVille, with Kung Fu Panda 2 and insert a new quest until May 31 giving them an option for a “Panda”-themed drive-in movie theater in their city.

“Zynga and CityVille have a massive reach and their fan base is very attractive to us,” said Jason Alex, head of online marketing at DreamWorks Animation. “Our fans and the movie-going audience cross over to the gaming space, so this integration makes a lot of sense. If we can reach a quarter of those 88 million CityVille players, that’s a great number.”

Other movie collaborations with Zynga include DreamWorks’ Megamind and FarmVille (9 million farmers played it in less than 24 hours) and Paramount Pictures’ Rango in FrontierVille. DreamWorks and Zynga have collaborated to the point that DreamWorks’ co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg joined Zynga’s board last month.

Other online promotions for Kung Fu Panda 2 (which account for around 10 percent of the marketing budget) includes an interactive YouTube trailer. Offline promotions will be with McDonald’s, Airheads, and Best Buy.

Source: AdAge.com

Mac App Store Developer Claims First To One Million Downloads

EnsenaSoft has announced they are the first developer to reach 1 million downloads on the Mac App Store. The maker of educational and puzzle games for Mac OS has put out titles like Doodle Hangman, Fantastic 4 in a Row, Mahjong Deluxe and Ultimate Word Search.

We have incredible talent within our organization. The applications that they developed have become so popular, so quickly, with Mac consumers, said Blanca Valencia, President of EnsenaSoft.  The Mac App Store has allowed us to compete with much larger developers and reach out to a much broader audience than we could have ever imagined. Through the store, Mac users throughout the world can now learn from, and experience, our tremendous applications first hand.