Diablo 3 On PS3 Gets Pre-Order Bonus

Blizzard Entertainment has opened up pre-orders for the PS3 version of Diablo 3. Via their website, players can pick up the game for $59.99 from Amazon, GameStop and Walmart in the U.S.

“We’ve poured blood, sweat, and hellfire into creating an epic Diablo 3 experience for PlayStation gamers,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “In addition to including all the improvements from the PC version over the past year, we’ve made several updates to Diablo 3 for play on the PS3. We got a ton of positive feedback from players who tried the game at PAX East, and we can’t wait to get it into everyone’s hands later this year.”

Additionally, players who pre-order the PS3 version of Diablo 3 will receive the Infernal Helm as an in-game item. The piece of equipment grants an experience point boost to any character who wears it.

Source: Battle.net

A Boy And His Atom: The World’s Smallest Movie

IBM has been doing research into the field of atomic memory and used a scanning tunneling microscope to move thousands of carbon monoxide molecules to create this unique little movie. Watch the “Making Of” movie too, since the origin of this is facinating.

Facebook Ad Revenue On The Rise In Early 2013

Facebook saw revenue of $1.46 billion, including $1.25 billion in ad revenue, for the first quarter of 2013. 30 percent of advertising came from mobile, as 751 million of its 1.1 billion users access Facebook from smartphones and tablets monthly.

Facebook has been increasing its focus on mobile of late, never more evidenced than their recent release of Facebook Home. “We have seen strong growth and engagement across our community,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Only two quarters ago, the $152.6 million in revenue from mobile accounted for just 14 percent of Facebook’s advertising dollars. With mobile now generating $375 million in ad revenue, that represents a 43 percent year-over-year rise.

Source: NYpost.com

PlayHaven Sees 400 Percent Yearly Growth

PlayHaven has announced that it has grown its user base by 400 percent year-over-year with 109 million new users added in the first quarter of 2013 alone. The leading lifetime value (LTV) maximization platform now tracks more than 523 million unique users, 121 million monthly active users and 10 billion events each month.

Mobile Deluxe, developer of casual games like Big Win Slots and Solitaire Deluxe on iOS and Android, partnered with PlayHaven to better engage users and increase revenue. Mobile Deluxe was able to experiment with different real-time marketing campaigns using PlayHaven’s user segmentation, virtual goods promotion and interstitial ad tools, to engage diverse user segments and improve player monetization.

“We make free-to-play casual games, so it’s vital to capture revenue at all phases of a player’s lifecycle,” said Alfred Fung, Director of Marketing at Mobile Deluxe. “Using a combination of PlayHaven’s tools has allowed us to test and gain insight into what resonates with our audience in order to maximize revenue from different customer segments.”

“Over the past year, we saw significant growth in adoption of our engagement, retention and monetization tools enabling marketing success across the spectrum of indie developers, mobile game studios and multi-studio game publishers,” said Charles Yim, Chief Operating Officer, PlayHaven. “With thousands of new games launching every week, retaining and keeping players engaged has never been more important for game developers. Developers should use PlayHaven’s tools to better engage their users, stay competitive in this market and make a meaningful impact on their games’ performance.”

Zynga.org Partnering With NewSchools Venture Fund

Zynga has announced a partnership with NewSchools Venture Fund to support interactive education entrepreneurs. Zynga will lend office space for companies developing progressive learning games and apps and employees will lend their expertise on a voluntary basis.

“We’re excited about the learning potential of games,” said Ken Weber, Executive Director of Zynga.org, a non-profit organization established by Zynga. “We’re honored to collaborate with NewSchools, a proven leader in the education technology space, on this accelerator. We want to help entrepreneurs create high quality, scalable learning games that will enhance learning experiences for all 21st century students.”

The first wave of companies in this accelerator will include Kidaptive, LocoMotiveLabs, Motion Math, and Edmodo. Zynga.org will invest $1 million in the accelerator in its first year.

Minecraft – Pocket Edition Reaches 10 Million In Sales

Mojang has announced that Minecraft – Pocket Edition has sold over 10 million copies. The game eclipsed that mark on PC on April 14 and the game sold over 15 million copies total across PC, mobile and XBLA during 2012.

“We are very thankful to all the support that we have gotten and people playing and talking about our game,” said Mojang business developer Daniel Kaplan. “So . . . I know what you are thinking. ‘Yeah, 10m is cool but where is the next update ‘ We have been working hard on restructuring the backend of a lot of things for Minecraft – Pocket Edition to make future updates smoother.”

Gamer Network Announces Push Into YouTube

Gamer Network has announced that they are partnering with the Team VVV and Family Gamer TV YouTube channels. The network of gaming sites is hoping to build up channels outside its current brands.

“We have a rich history of partnering with producers of quality content which is why Team VVV and Family Gamer TV seemed like a natural fit,” said Gamer Network’s group publishing director Simon Maxwell. “They are two very passionate and growing channels that complement our own branded channels well. These are two very important partnerships in this area as we look to expand our global video reach further.”

“There will be more channels coming on board over the next few months although our aim isn’t to build a mass network of channels – we want to choose carefully and work with partners who produce quality content and who can drive long term consumer engagement,” Maxwell added.

iOS Mobile Revenue Expected To Dominate Through 2018: DFC

DFC Intelligence believes that games and apps for Apple iOS will continue to dominate the mobile entertainment market over the next few years. Their Global Market for Games and Entertainment Applications on Smartphone and Tablets report forecasts that games will generate $9.7 billion by 2018 on iOS.

By 2018 the number of active Android smartphones is forecasted to be 829 million versus 265 million active iPhones. DFC predicts that similar trends are expected to occur in the tablet market, where the iPad will see application revenue grow even as market share declines.

“With iOS, Apple has created a stable ecosystem that is consumer friendly and allows products to be used across multiple devices. For entertainment products this is essential to growing a stable base of paying consumers,” said DFC analyst David Cole.

As for Google Play, game revenue reached $900 million in 2012 and is expected to surpass $2.7 billion in 2018. “The Android market is fragmented with many proprietary hardware devices and application stores. Google Play is helping provide a standard ecosystem similar to the Apple AppStore,” noted Cole. “Google Play is showing solid growth but Apple is forecasted to be the leader in monetization.”

In 2012, 56 percent of applications downloaded for iPad were games and the iPhone saw 54 percent, but by contrast only 33 percent of Google Play applications were games. Nearly 90 percent of iOS app downloads were free to download with no upfront payment, but consumers show a higher willingness to pay for apps they enjoy.

“2012 was a banner year for the app economy, especially on Apple platforms. With the growth of Google Play we are seeing Android also grow as a content platform,” said Priori Data CEO Patrick Kane. “The App Store and Google Play have become the de facto platforms for mobile entertainment content, especially games. As consumer preferences mature, so must app market participants in order to stay abreast of future opportunities for growth. Continued success will require keeping a close eye on app activity to capitalize on trends before they become common knowledge.”