Internal sources are indicating that Zynga is gearing up for an IPO in November. Zynga filed for a $1 billion IPO in July, but has delayed the decision, pending the Summer upheaval on Wall Street.
The timing of when to go public will depend on investors’ reception to Groupon and market conditions. Assuming that all goes well, a Zynga IPO might occur sometime between mid- to late November.
Source: AdWeek.com
Blizzard has unveiled the Diablo III Collector’s Edition. As far as physical items, it will have a Diablo III Art Book, a special Collector’s Edition soundtrack, a two-disc”Behind the Scenes” DVD/Blu-ray boxset, a Diablo Skull paperweight, and a 4GB USB Soulstone.
The package will also include in-game items for both Diablo III, StarCraft II and World of Warcraft. Diablo III items will include “Aesthetic Artifactsâ€, World of Warcraft players get a “Fetish Shaman” and the Starcraft II goodies will include Battle.Net portraits.
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is the anticipated expansion for the game that will focus on the Zerg. Being something of a mindless swarm, the story focus will be on the “Queen of Blades” – Sarah Kerrigan.
Mobile gaming is quickly becoming something that AAA experience helps in designing the best games. Bungie Aerospace Portfolio Manager Bernie Yee says that the company’s experience with independence from Microsoft helped them bring a new prerogative to mobile.
“We look at the hardware platforms, and they’re becoming more powerful and relevant. So I can’t speak for other studios, but for us, the values Bungie brings to game development are applicable to iOS,” said Yee. “So remember five years ago when it was the original iPhone The mobile scene was very different. The palette was so limited. What would our guys do to a mobile game dev back then We’d have nothing to contribute. But now the things we have are really useful.”
While the company’s first game Crimson: Steam Pirates was an iOS title, Yee indicates that they’re looking at other platforms. “You’ll see us on the PC,” said Yee. “You’ll see us on other handheld devices. We obviously like Android quite a bit. We have a lot of people in the office with Android phones. Certainly different means of digital distribution are really interesting to us. I wouldn’t even rule out XBLA or PSN.”
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
Batman: Arkham City is out now, which leaves the opportunity open for plenty of things like challenge maps and new characters. First up is the rumored and now confirmed Nightwing, who uses an agile fighting style all his own.
Reports are that Sony is moving forward on a movie based around the recently released Steve Jobs biography. The person in particular being courted for the screenwriting role is Aaron Sorkin, writer of the recent hit films Moneyball and Social Network along with the acclaimed TV show The West Wing.
The film will be produced by Saving Private Ryan‘s Mark Gordon and the large Hollywood firm Management 360. Sorkin knew Jobs and actually declined to write a Pixar film, though writing a film about Jobs might be the proper sort of tribute.
Source: L.A. Times
Sony Online Entertainment has announced that they will hold a variety of events for their titles. There’s opportunities to collect items and participate in holiday events in games that include DC Universe Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Free Realms, Magic: The Gathering – Tactics, PoxNora and Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.
“During the SOE Trick-Or-Treat event, from Oct. 28 – 31, 2011, players will have a chance to collect festive Halloween loot from their favorite games,” said the release by SOE. “Players are encouraged to login daily to not miss any of the tricks and treats given.”
Capcom has said that their social game The Smurfs’ Village was a huge driving force for their last six month period ending September 30. The Mobile Content division showed very impressive growth, with revenue climbing 89 percent to 2.58 billion Yen ($33.9 million), and operating income increasing 201 percent to 903 million Yen ($11.8 million).
The rise of mobile and social networks were cited as reasons for Capcom’s diminished profits and revenue. “In order to address changes in the market environment under these circumstances, Capcom promoted efficient and agile game development by integrating the development departments for home video game machines, PCs and mobile phones,” read the report by the company. “At the same time, we endeavored to enhance our online business by making a head start on the development and distribution of social games as a new source of revenue.”
Blake Griffen’s Rage commercial was fairly non-sequitur and id Software obviously thought they could one-up that. So they brought in Snoop Dogg to talk about, uh, things related to the Wasteland.
Amazon has revealed that they are under great pressure when it came to orders of the Kindle Fire. The Android powered tablet will see increased production in order to keep up with demand.
“September 28th was the biggest order day ever for Kindle, even bigger than previous holiday peak days – we introduced Kindle Fire for $199, Kindle Touch 3G for $149, Kindle Touch for $99, and our all new Kindle for only $79,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “In the three weeks since launch, orders for electronic ink Kindles are double the previous launch. And based on what we’re seeing with Kindle Fire pre-orders, we’re increasing capacity and building millions more than we’d already planned.”
