Social Gaming

GameFounders, the first European startup accelerator for gaming companies is accepting applications for a few more days, deadline June 23. The offer includes investment, huge mentor network, partners, contacts and deals. GameFounders has already executed 2 cycles and has 14 companies from 9 different countries (India, Italy, Estonia, Macedonia, Germany, Argentina, Hungary, Lithuania and Holland) in its portfolio. The selected companies will move to Tallinn, Estonia, while top-notch gaming executives come to give advice and share their knowledge in different fields. The number of mentors in the list has already increased to 90+! Every cycle ends with demo days in large gaming events in Europe and the US, where the companies will pitch their products to potential investors and publishers. “What we got with already the first week in GameFounders was more than we expected of the whole program,” says Jonas, a co-founder of Tiny Lab Productions. The second batch has barely come to an end, but there are already good results to show. Bad Seed from Italy has arranged a deal with investor and publisher Pocket Gems and launched their game at the beginning of June. It got featured by Google and Apple (Korea). The Dutch startup Glowforth found a publisher in Estonia (Creative Mobile) and will launch their game in Q4 this year. Half of the teams from batch 2 have publishing offers on their tables and there have also been rumors of acquisition offers. GameFounders is currently looking for new gaming and gamification startups to the third cycle that starts already in September. The application deadline is June 23, so don’ t miss your chance and apply here: http://gamefounders.com/#/apply

Happy 4th Birthday FarmVille! Happy fourth Birthday, FarmVille!!!! Can you believe it? It’s been four years since the beginning of virtual FarmVille farming. We’ve seen FarmVille come a long way from the slow paced days of one farm farming to having multiple farms with rampant game updates and a flourish of market items and game features. Whether you have been farming since the beginning in 2009 or started your farming career somewhere along the way, it’s likely that you’ve met some incredible people because of FarmVille and had a lot of fun doing it. In honor of FarmVille’s fourth birthday, we are slashing the price of our FarmVilleFreak.com t-shirts to $5 plus shipping while supplies last! Check them out by clicking here. What has been your favorite memory from playing FarmVille these past four years?

Just last week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show, Microsoft positioned Xbox One as the console of the future. Now, after a sustained negative reaction from fans, the company is taking a step backward in the name of appeasement. That means some of the benefits of Xbox One’s now-dead always-online infrastructure are out. Microsoft’s Xbox chief Don Mattrick released a statement today that details a full reversal on the company’s previous policies. Used games now have no restrictions. Xbox One does not need to check in with Microsoft’s servers every 24 hours. Rental games are back, and Microsoft is dropping all region-locking restrictions. But that also means that potentially cool features like sharing digital titles with family members is out. Gamers will also have to put a disc in for every game. Previously, Xbox One would allow instant switching between titles without having to mess with discs. Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten was quick to point out some of the digital features that are sticking around in an interview with GamesBeat. “We’re still very committed to the digital infrastructure and to the power of the cloud,” said Whitten. “Games like Titanfall and Forza can do [amazing things] when they’re taking advantage of Xbox One as a service. You’re also going to see us push how digital can change the experience. At launch, you’ll be able to get any of your content online or through a physical disc, which will work like it always has.” Whitten also described a situation where you could bring a disc over to a friend’s house and play it on their Xbox One, that person can then purchase the game immediately and start playing with no downloads. “That’s an example of how we’re leveraging the digital capabilities,” he said. “I think you’ll see us adding a lot of new features. A lot of new functionality.” Whitten wouldn’t clarify if that new functionality could one day include instant-game switching or family sharing. So why drop those features? Well, Microsoft didn’t get the response from fans that it expected. “We’ve been working on Xbox One for a long time,” said Whitten. “Over the last several weeks, starting with the Xbox unveil and through E3, we had our first chance to show the complete story and to see what people love and what they didn’t like — what they were excited about and what they wanted changed. That was the journey. We put it out there and heard what people had to say, and I think we heard clearly that people wanted us to change around online and the physical disc.” Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .boilerplate-after hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

The Xbox One can now play used games just like an Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 do (and the PlayStation 4 will upon its release). Microsoft made a stunning course correction after weeks of gamer outcry against the company’s policy that would have severely limited used games with strict digital-rights management. It turns out that the outcry is what made the difference, according to Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten. “Frankly, over the last three weeks we had an opportunity to share our vision and get feedback,” Whitten told GamesBeat. “I think we heard that people love our great games, they love the vision for the platform, they love so much about it, but they were very clear that they also wanted choice. The ability to use their console offline if they want to go on vacation or are in a low-connectivity area. They also want the choice to use physical disc the way they were used to. We listened.” Microsoft listened, and now the Xbox One is a much more appealing machine to a lot of gamers. It isn’t a coincidence that Xbox One is now the best-selling video game item on Amazon. The thing is, this is probably because of you. “As a team, we’ve been reading the comments and reading the forums,” said Whitten. “We’ve been getting e-mail and collecting all that feedback. That’s been our conversation over the past week, and that’s what led us to make these changes.” I asked Whitten if he resented having to change the Xbox One after putting so much work into it. No one has really had any hands-on time with the features that Microsoft changed, so maybe the company believed in them and hate that it has to take them out. That’s not the case. “This is literally what I love about this industry,” he said. “I’ve been on Xbox for a decade. I’ve been responsible for most of our updates on Xbox Live. All I do is put out new functionality, then listen to the community. I try to do more of what they like and less of what they don’t like. “I’m absolutely not resentful. Frankly, I thank gamers for their feedback. That’s the beauty of this industry. It’s so much better than putting out a product and then not hearing anything because people don’t care. That’s the beauty. People care about Xbox, and they want to have an amazing experience. I love it.” So, Microsoft is listening. The lesson is that if you don’t like the price (it’s still $499), the indie policies (small devs can’t self-publish), or the bundled Kinect (included with every console), then you better speak up now. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .boilerplate-after hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

FarmVille Summer Celebration Notice It’s day two of the FarmVille Summer Celebration countdown with a Hotfoot Hippo daily prize. You will need to collect five stamps to make it yours. Collect stamps for each daily prize by posting a Facebook News Feed share. When one of your friends clicks on your share, you will get one item per friend that clicks. Remember, when you click on a neighbor’s share, you will also get one item for yourself. Help a friend, help yourself! You can request help every 6 hours. After fulfilling the collection requirements, you can find the the Daily Prize in your FarmVille Gift Box. Once you complete each of the countdown’s Daily Prizes, you also get a bonus prize. There are 16 days of prizes and one exclusive  bonus prize, the Celebration Dragicorn when you collect all 16 daily prizes. FarmVille Summer Celebration Countdown Day 2 Requirements: Get 5 stamps Prize: Hotfoot Hippo Sneak peek of all the countdown prizes after the jump! FarmVille Summer Celebration Prizes: FarmVille Decor Duck FarmVille Hotfoot Hippo FarmVille Sparkler Tree FarmVille Party Game FarmVille Fetti Cow FarmVille 4th Fountain FarmVille Ribbon Horse FarmVille Fireworks Unicorn FarmVille FarmVille Tree FarmVille Party Rhino FarmVille Boogiedown Dragon FarmVille Party Hat Fruit Bat FarmVille Sparkler Pegasus FarmVille FarmVille Dire Wolf FarmVille Coming Attraction Tree FarmVille Patriotic Pegacorn FarmVille Celebration Dragicorn

Social gaming business Zynga has purchased Spooky Cool Labs in a major push for more real-money casino gaming that could help it generate more revenue. Zynga has been struggling for a long while and recently laid off 520 employees so it could focus more on mobile and real-money games. It also closed its New York, Dallas and Los Angeles offices at the same time. But even while it trims staff, Zynga clearly sees the value of bringing in experienced real-money gaming veterans who could help it make more cash. So here comes Spooky Cool, whose founder is Joe Kaminkow. He’s an influential slot machine designer and a former VP at IGT, the “world’s largest casino game manufacturer.” “We have a legacy in social casino franchises with Zynga Poker, and we believe that free-to-play social casino games for the web and on mobile have the potential to reach and connect a much broader audience,” Zynga chief revenue officer Barry Cottle said in a blog post today. “Spooky Cool Labs is the right team to help us bring the feeling of being on a casino floor and the thrill of hitting a big jackpot right to players wherever they play.” While Spooky Cool Labs has casino talent, it’s most recent hit is a Wizard of Oz social game on Facebook, which had more than a million registered players back in March. Zynga no doubt will enjoy having the that title in its roster too. Spooky Cool Labs and its employees will remain based in Chicago. Kaminkow will also continue to lead game design at Aristocrat Leisure, a major Australian slots manufacturer. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .boilerplate-after hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

Microsoft might be throwing its massive machinery into reverse to drop many of the restrictive digital-rights management policies it planned for Xbox One, according to a rumor from Giant Bomb and WhatHiFi. Giant Bomb reporter Patrick Klepek claims to have multiple sources confirming that Microsoft will reveal its revised plan later today. According to the rumor, Microsoft’s new stance will drop the always-online requirement — Xbox One will no longer have to check in every 24 hours. Game discs will work just as they do on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. An Internet connection is now only necessary for the initial console setup. Microsoft may even drop region locking. I’ve reached out to Microsoft to ask if it will confirm or deny this report. I will update this post with its response. If this is true, it is a massive swing in the other direction for Microsoft who just came off a tough Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show that had Sony playing on each one of the Xbox One’s perceived weaknesses. The biggest cheer of the week went to Sony when it announced that the PlayStation 4 will treat used games exactly as the PlayStation 3 did. That was all due to Microsoft’s bungled messaging that still has most consumers confused as to how game ownership works on Xbox One. That confusion could quickly evaporate if this rumor is true. We’ll have more on this as we continue to dig. Filed under: Games GamesBeat 2013 is our fifth annual conference on disruption in the video game market. You'll get 360-degree perspectives from top gaming executives, developers, and analysts on what’s to come in the industry. Our theme this year is “The Battle Royal.” Check out full event details here, and grab your early-bird tickets here! .boilerplate-after hr { margin: 10px 0 10px 0; }

We're always on the lookout for exciting and innovative new games. We love finding games that can strike a real chord with the gaming community, make a significant impact on the way we look at games, and above all else, turn out to be just really fun to play. And what better way to expand our gaming horizons than by checking out the winners of this year's Game for Change Awards? Founded in 2004, Games for Change has been highlighting the biggest and brightest indie titles that serve as outstanding acts of education and humanitarianism ideals. Last night at the foundation's big ceremony in New York City, the winners of the Games for Change Awards 2013 were announced. Here is a quick rundown of all the big winners, and what each one brings to the world of socially impacted gaming: Most Innovative: BlindSide (epicycle) There are countless new mobile games that push the boundaries of innovation each and every day, so when one of them is recognized as the most innovative, then you know it's going to be something really cool. BlindSide is a completely auditory adventure, which lets you explore a fascinating 3D world that is built entirely out of sounds, and that you'll never actually get to see! Best Gameplay: Reach for the Sun (Filament Games) It's what we're all here for, right? Playing great games with even greater gameplay! This year's winner of the "Best Gameplay" category is called Reach for the Sun, a beautiful-looking educational game about science, where players learn to nurture and care for their very own seedlings before the coming winter approaches. See the rest of the winners over at Gamezebo > Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Sony just released this video showing off a lot of PS4's interface, which had largely remained a mystery to us until now. The video shows off the different apps you can use with the next-gen console as well as its chat functions and the apparent seamless experience it offers between chatting, sharing, and actual game play. Check it out here: Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Inside Network Job Board is dedicated to providing you with the best social media job opportunities across social and mobile application platforms. Here are this week’s highlights from the Inside Network Job Board, including positions at: Glow, DoubleDown Interactive, Ten Square Games and more.   Advertising Age Digital Marketing Coordinator – Advertising Age Applifier Ad Operations Specialist BrightRoll Marketing Director Associate Manager, Publisher Development (NYC) DoubleDown Interactive Software Developer Glow Head of User Acquisition – Gaming (LA or London) Inside Network Lead Writer / Editor Machine Zone Senior DevOps Engineer Director of Operations Senior C++ Software Engineer VP of Game Engineering Senior MySQL Data Engineer POPSUGAR Sr. Web Engineer SponsorPay Midwest Sales Director – Chicago (m/f) SumAll.org Creative Engineer Tango Senior Software Engineer Growth Hacker DevOps Engineer Ten Square Games International Partnership Manager