Game Insight Offers $3 Million For Mobile Developers

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Game Insight has opened a new publishing website for mobile developers. The publisher of top titles like Mystery Manor, My Country, and Paradise Island will let developers submit their publishing requests to to Game Insight directly; they are offering $3 million in funding through the program.

“Game Insight is looking to expand its already strong mobile portfolio on all platforms with even more high-quality, fun, and potentially successful new games,” said Game Insight CEO Alisa Chumachenko. “If you’re as passionate as we are about making the best mobile games in the world, we want to hear from you.”

Metal Gear Solid 5 Outed By Kojima

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Speaking to French games magazine IG, Hideo Kojima seemed to confirm that Metal Gear Sold 5 is in development. It is believed that it is being made on the new FOX Engine.

“About Metal Gear Solid 5, I can tell you two things. There will be much question of infiltration, espionage, and convincing people to give you ‘a favor’ like in the last Metal Gear Solid,” he said. “I liked the idea of social interactions in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but we will see. And if I say more, the female ninja public relations officer, who is behind the door, will carve me up into pieces. So it’s better that we meet again when the time comes to talk about Metal Gear Solid 5.”

IG later confirmed that the quote are genuine, while further adding, “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance never claimed to be a Metal Gear Solid. This is not a game about our beloved Solid Snake. It is a spinoff that tries something different. We have not yet finished with Solid Snake, despite the fact that I wanted to let him die at the end of Guns of the Patriots.”

Source: CVG  {link no longer active}

Amazon Appstore Coming To Europe

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Amazon announced plans to make their Appstore available to developers in the U.K., France, Spain, Italy and Germany this summer. The branch of the popular online retailer has seen a boost from free demo function and one-click purchasing.

“We are thrilled at the success our developers have experienced on the Amazon platform in the last year,” said Amazon Appstore vice president Jim Adkins. “Some developers have seen revenue double since the launch of In-App Purchasing. We’re excited to open the door to even more opportunity by expanding app sales outside the U.S. “We see tremendous potential for current developers in our distribution program to grow with the international expansion. We also encourage new developers to join and participate in the platform’s growth.”

Source: AmazonAppStoreDev.com

Journey Retail Release Confirmed

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A compilation of Thatgamecompany titles was spotted on online renter GameFly and the import site Play-Asia. When contacted directly, the developer owned up to the authenticity of the compilations.

“Yes, the Journey Collector’s Edition is a thing, and it includes flOw and Flower, but we can’t say anything more,” said the developer.

Source: Twitter

Family Guy Online Gets Ted

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Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products announced that they are launching a digital partnership between Universal Pictures’ upcoming comedy movie Ted and Fox’s free-to-play title Family Guy Online. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is the director, voice star and co-writer of Ted, so integrating the talking bear from the movie within the virtual Quahog was an easy fit.

“Outrageous humor and cutting-edge entertainment are central to Family Guy Online, so we are able to work with our partners to develop creative, fun and relevant integrations that cannot be found anywhere else,” said Gary Rosenfeld, senior vice president, Interactive Games, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products. “With the upcoming release of Ted, Family Guy Online players will get their first chance to interact with this new and hilarious character.”

Ted will be in the game, and interacting with him and watching various movie clips will ear an achievement and a virtual item. Other recent integrations into Family Guy Online include Unilever’s Axe and Klondike Choco Taco and Sony Pictures’ 21 Jump Street.

Source: FamilyGuyOnline.com

Binding Of Isaac Reaches 700k In Sales

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The Binding of Isaac, a cult indie title, has reached a sales milestone of 700,000. They recently released Wrath of the Lamb v1.3, a content update that added “items, bosses, enemies, music, secrets and a very hard to attain final ending cut scene that should shed some light on the game’s story even more.”

“Who would have thought a game about an abused child fighting off his mother with his tears could ever sell 700k copies in less than a year ” The Binding of Isaac developer Edmund McMillen wrote in an email blast last night. “Not me, that’s for f*cking sure.”

McMillen concluded, “700k is a big number… maybe it’s time to bring this thing to a console.”

Source: Joystiq

Facebook Looks To Real-Time Ad Bidding

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It’s no secret that Facebook has had difficultly getting companies to pay for advertisements on their site, especially since they can make company pages on the social network for free. They also recently settled a suit with a $10 million pay-out to charities that alleged that Facebook’s Sponsored Stories benefited from its users’ “likes” without giving them compensation or a chance to opt out.

Now, reports are that Facebook is developing Facebook Exchange, a platform (FBX) for real-time bidding for advertising on the site. This service would be designed to help advertisers target specific types of users based on their browsing history with prices based on cost per thousand viewers and spots sold via third-party technology partners.

While notable, Google and Yahoo offer similar services to advertisers. There was some confusion initially over what was confirmed about location specific ads, but real-time targeting is not in the works yet for their mobile product.

“Facebook’s been having challenges coming up with effective advertising,” said Debra Aho Williamson, an eMarketer analyst. “[The company] is hoping to use that inventory on the right side of the page to deliver advertising that is more targeted.”

Real-time bidding generates about $5.08 billion, or 27 percent of the projected $18.9 billion to be spent on U.S. online display ads in 2015, according to IDC research. Facebook bidding and re-targeting could bring substantial revenue the social network that’s been publicly battered after the recent IPO by offering more relevant direct advertising.

Facebook is reportedly testing eight ad vendors’ platforms — TellApart, Triggit, Turn, DataXu, MediaMath, AppNexus, TheTradeDesk, and AdRoll — for Facebook Exchange.

Source: Brand Channel

Zynga Brings Top Titles To Windows Phone

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Zynga announced its intention to bring Words With Friends and Draw Something to Windows Phone this Fall. The titles will be exclusive to Nokia customers for the first two months before coming to all Windows Phone users.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform recently reached the milestone of 100,000 published apps. The number of new Windows Phone project starts registered with Flurry has grown 600 percent, greater than the average growth rate across all platforms by 50 percent.