“This move will allow High 5 Games to strengthen and finalize our upcoming Game Server Platform, which will allow our content to be real-time streamed to both regulated real-money gaming sites, as well as to social casino sites throughout the world,” said Anthony Singer, CEO of High 5 Games. “We are overjoyed to bring in the many talented individuals from Electrotank into High 5 Games.”

High 5 Games, a leading game creator in the casino industry, has worked with Electrotank in the past to move some of its popular land-based slot games onto Facebook’s gaming platform.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for Electrotank,” said Michael Gold, CEO of Electrotank. “High 5 Games has a long history of producing highly successful content, and I am excited to see what the two companies can do together.”

Electrotank has licensed its server and platform technology to hundreds of companies during its history, and has developed games for a number of well-known clients, including Disney, MTV, Nickelodeon, Mattel, and Comedy Central. The company is recognized for its highly scalable game server, which allows for seamless concurrent play for a very high volume of players.

“We will continue to look for opportunities of this kind to improve upon our position as a premier content provider,” said Med Nadooshan, COO of High 5 Games. “High 5 Games’ growth strategy will allow the company to aggressively pursue potential new ventures and rapidly expand into untapped markets.”

]]> http://www.socialgamesobserver.com/high-5-games-acquires-electrotank-16861/feed 0 http://www.socialgamesobserver.com/plarium-total-domination-ios-mobile-16820 http://www.socialgamesobserver.com/plarium-total-domination-ios-mobile-16820#comments Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:40:25 +0000 Camilla Noon http://www.socialgamesobserver.com/?p=16820 Plarium, one of the world’s fastest growing developers of social and mobile games, announced a new iteration of its hard core massively multiplayer online strategy game –Total Domination: Reborn – is now available for free to iOS users worldwide. This is the first time the popular franchise has been extended to the mobile format, now for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Following its 2011 launch on major social networks, including Facebook, Total Domination has already garnered more than 30 million online users worldwide, placing Plarium among the top two hardcore game developers for Facebook.Total Domination: Reborn leverages the trademark theme of war-as-world-order to provide players an open storyline from which to strategically forge alliances, develop colonies and build empires. The new mobile version of the game is standalone, completely independent from the online version, is developed specifically for iOS and can be downloaded in the iTunes App store here.

Founded only three years ago, Plarium has seen revenues double year over year. With a staff of more than 300 and more than 84 million users online, including 3 million daily active users, the company is expanding globally to new platforms.  Total Domination: Reborn features the key engaging gameplay people have come to expect of the franchise, but designed specifically for mobile with a user interface (UI) optimized for a smaller touch screen and game balance ideal for the format.   Plarium has also invested a level of community management, never before seen in mobile gaming, with an entire staff dedicated to working with those who play Total Domination: Reborn.  Moreover, Plarium is committed to evolving and growing the game the same way it has done with the online version of the franchise.

“We have created something special at Plarium – the ability to take everything people love about our games on Facebook and social media and optimize it for mobile,” said Avi Shalel, Plarium’s Chief Executive Officer. “Plarium is committed to bringing rich and engaging original content, as seen with Total Domination, and now hardcore gamers can get a deep, robust mobile experience like never before.”

Total Domination: Reborn for mobile provides gamers a real-time strategic interface, allowing them to construct empires from the ashes of fallen civilizations. By discovering lost knowledge and researching new technologies, players can lead armies, protect their people, and wage war for control of the world’s resources. Key game features include:

• Building Forces – Study technologies, stockpile weapons, and unlock powerful colonies, while building forces from over 30 Infantry, Armor Corps, Artillery, and Air Force units.  Strengthen your troops and protect your sectors from invasions.
• Developing Strategy and Teamwork – A flexible and strategy-based format allows users to play according to their style – gamers can go it alone, or form alliances and clans with other sectors. Extra resources are earned by raiding other communities or by trading with other players.
• Immersive Storylines – A classic interface is familiar to long-time gamers, plus global in-game storyline developments introduce non-player opponents and new ways to work with or betray fellow commanders.
• Continually Enhanced Experience – Frequent updates ensure the game stays fresh by offering new units, buildings, technologies, and defensive improvements for players.

Total Domination: Reborn is available now worldwide and translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian and Turkish, and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App store here.

“Pet Rescue Saga is one of King’s most-played games. It has strong puzzle challenge and a great story where players work to save cuddly dogs, cats and birds from dangerous scenarios,” said Riccardo Zacconi, CEO and co-founder of King. “Just like with our popular cross-platform game Candy Crush Saga, players will now be able to play Pet Rescue Saga anywhere, anytime and ensure their leaderboards, scores and progress is synchronized, regardless of device.”

Pet Rescue Saga Screenshot

Pet Rescue Saga launches on mobile with over 72 levels featuring more than 10 cute, animated pets in dire need of help from all kinds of threats across a fantastic Saga land that includes both fairytale and urban landscapes. Boosters allow gamers to clear columns or individual blocks in various ways to save enough pets and advance through each episode, which includes 5-10 different types of puzzle levels.

Pet Rescue Saga’s mobile features include:

• Synced with Facebook: Players can continue their progress, unlock new levels and access leaderboards in both the Facebook and mobile versions
• Ability to unlock helpful charms and boosters to benefit players’ journey through the Saga
• 72 exciting levels and several modes for players to test their pet-saving skills against time limits, a limited number of moves and any threats
• Sharp, vivid retina display and 3-D visuals
• Built-in online connectivity to see friends who are also playing

Pet Rescue Saga for iOS and Google Play is free and available now. To play, please click here for iOS or for Android go here.

The White Nights program has been finalized and includes three sets of lectures and master classes all running in parallel. The conference will feature more than 40 speakers from companies like Rovio, Supercell, Chillingo, Facebook, Wooga, Big Fish, FishLabs, G5, FDG, Gamevil, InMobi, Flurry and more. There will also be master classes and presentations from ALL of the leading mobile platforms.

The conference includes three incredible, casual, networking parties: a badge pick-up pre-party sponsored by MoPub, a boat cruise on the 26th of June and the main all night party organized by Nevosoft and Supercell after the first conference day. Not to mention a unique attendee list that includes representatives from over 400 companies.

“I can easily say the WNMG is one of the best events ever. It was extremely well organized, content-wise straight to the point with an excellent line-up of speakers and great attendees to network with in a fabulous location”, – Michael Schade, CEO, FishLabs.

The WNConf has 15 sponsors, including industry-leading companies such as Samsung, the event’s main partner, as well as platinum sponsors Big Fish and i-Free. The conference an ongoing project organized by game publisher and developer Nevosoft.

Register now, because prices will go up on June 17th!

If you have any questions, please, contact wnconf@nevosoft.com

Developer Name: Kamicat GmbH

Where founded and office/s location/s: Berlin, Hannover (Germany) and Barcelona (Spain)

Founded by: Cyoshi Crucial GmbH, Human Nayebzadeh, Fabian Wolff, Lars Mohrmann, Christoph Reisner

Founded in: 2011

Funding: yes

Acquisitions: no

Number of employees: 10

Number of games published: 1

List of games published: Kamicat Football 2013

Describe what you do in one sentence: Developer of cool Social Football/Soccer Games

Where games are published: Facebook, soon Mobile

Working with publisher: no

Acting as a publisher: no

Publishing games in which languages: English, German, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, French and Italian

Kamicat Football 2013 Screenshot

Game genre/s: Sports

User demographics (gender): mainly male

User demographics (location): South America, Europe

Best-selling virtual item: Recovery Energy (0,10 US$)

Most expensive virtual item: KamiCash Package (150 US$)

What do you see as the current most exciting trend in the industry: Mobile Gambling

Developer Name: MegaZebra GmbH

Where founded and office/s location/s: Champions League City of Munich

Founded by: Mark Gazecki, Christian Meister, Steffen Rusitschka, Hennning Kosmack

Founded in: 2008

Funding: Couple of million

Mahjong Trails Screenshot

Acquisitions: nope

Number of employees: 30

Number of games published: 2 major titles out there, one coming soon

List of games published: Mahjong Trails and Solitaire Castle. Next up is Poker Royale

Describe what you do in one sentence: Not only are both of our games leaders in their respective category on Facebook, they also shaped their genres, which is what we strive to continue doing for those two, but also for the new titles we are working on.

Where games are published: Facebook

Working with publisher: nope

Acting as a publisher: yes, if the games are kick-ass

Publishing games in which languages: EFIGS, plus Turkish and Brazilian Portuguese

Game genre/s: Arcade-Casual titles for now, but got some juicy stuff in the pipeline

Solitaire Castle Screenshot

User demographics: Female

User demographics: Tier 1 countries

Best-selling virtual item: Extra cards in Solitaire Castle

Most expensive virtual item: The magic microwave in up-coming game Suburbia

What do you see as the current most exciting trend in the industry: The most exciting trend is that some people think “social” is dead, while the complete opposite is true. Social Games have changed one gaming category after the other, starting with arcade/casual and simulation games, now it’s casino and mobile, with mid- and hard-core next. This journey is still only 1% finished and we are excited about this road trip.

Gomez is an award-winning game designer whose credits include several top performing casino games over the last two decades including Hall of Fame games “Reel’em In” and “Jackpot Party” as well as recent hit slot titles such “Wizard of Oz” and “Aladdin’s Magic Quest”.

With his unique depth of experience in creating casino games, Gomez will lead the company’s social and mobile game development efforts. His appointment will continue the company’s initiative of bringing traditional casino gaming talent into the social/mobile casino space.

Jim Jackson, CEO of Gemini Digital Development, Inc., the parent group of Bluhare Studios said, “I’m thrilled to welcome a designer with Ben’s reputation, talent and history of success into our company. In the rapidly emerging social casino market you need designers of his caliber in order to become a market leader.”

Ben Gomez said, “I’m really excited to take my experience in real-money, casino gaming and apply it to the world of for-fun, social and mobile games. With more and more people playing casino games on smart phones and social networking sites, we have the opportunity to create innovative new games that could never be played on a traditional casino floor.”

“Joining the management team of Bluhare will not only give me the chance to develop great new games, it provides me the opportunity to lead a passionate and talented group of people with backgrounds ranging from casino to mobile to console game development.” Gomez concluded.

Gomez will be based in Chicago, Illinois.

Traffic Generation’s Hub provides a single customer view across all products and delivers a powerful yet easy-to-use tool to manage players and cross marketing across land-based, social & online businesses.

The convergence between social, land-based and online gaming is becoming the hot topic for 2013. As land-based casino brands look to enter digital worlds, managing the interface between these different markets is becoming challenging, especially for brands with less experience in digital gaming & marketing. Traffic Generation is leading the way in providing tools that reduce the time to market, and increase the effectiveness of leveraging land-based brands in social gaming. The brand-strength of land-based casinos is set to have a highly disruptive effect on the social gaming world. Traffic Generation’s rapid growth in the US land-based market is testimony to the demand for fast, effective tools to drive revenue from social & online into land-based business.

“We are excited that Aristocrat has selected the Hub to enable the convergence between its land-based, online and social gaming businesses. This deal demonstrates Traffic Generation’s emerging position as a market leader in the convergence space,” said Andy Caras-Altas, CEO of Traffic Generation.

To learn more about Traffic Generation, Social Games Observer interviewed Andy Caras-Altas earlier this year.  Find the article here.

“Reaching over ten million players in just over half a year – many outsiders didn’t think Goodgame Big Farm was capable of doing that,” says Dr. Christian Wawrzinek, as COO also responsible for game development at Goodgame Studios. “We were certain of the game’s potential ourselves, as it had been developed by a talented and very experienced team. So we are very happy to have reached this milestone so quickly, but we are not surprised.”

The regular and extensive updates that have accompanied the game since its launch are a key factor in Goodgame Big Farm’s success. For example, the beginning of the year saw the introduction of second and third farms as additions to the main farms, where players can plant a broad variety of crops and produce products. The latest update has also implemented themed events, which take players on big adventures where they complete a broad variety of tasks, ensuring Goodgame Big Farm keeps offering fresh challenges for everyone, fans and new players alike.

AppLift Expands Leading Position in Mobile Games Marketing & Monetization

The mobile games marketing platform AppLift raises $13 million (€10M) from venture capital and growth equity firm Prime Ventures in series A funding round. AppLift will use the funds to further invest in its marketing and monetization platform and accelerates the global expansion with new offices and key personnel. One year after launch, AppLift is partnering with more than 80 mobile game publishers such as King, Wooga and Kabam and 500+ media partners like RTL and Closer. As a result AppLift delivers up to 1M high-quality installs per month for top mobile game publishers. Within 2013 AppLift plans to hire 50 additional engineers, product specialists and business development professionals.

Founded by HitFox Group, Kaya Taner and Tim Koschella AppLift has quickly made a name for itself by delivering quality game players at scale. Media partners benefit from the opportunity to monetize in a non-intrusive and user-friendly way and receive eCPMs of up to $75. Headquartered in Berlin, AppLift has additional offices in San Francisco, Seoul and Paris. HitFox was already active in the space of user acquisition with the portfolio company ad2games at the time when AppLift launched. The previously established game publisher relations and technology leveraged AppLift’s fast start.

Serial entrepreneur and HitFox Group CEO Jan Beckers says, ”The strong market position of AppLift is based on a world-class team, cutting-edge technology, a sustainable approach to partner relationships and an unwavering focus on flawless execution. With the new funding AppLift has everything required to become one of Berlin’s biggest success stories.”

Kaya Taner, Co-Founder and CEO at AppLift adds, “Prime Ventures’ entrepreneurial mindset is a perfect fit for us. We met them, got along immediately and agreed on a deal within five weeks. HitFox Group gave AppLift a great initial push into the market. Now Prime is the perfect addition to expand and strengthen our position internationally.”

Prime Ventures Partner Roel de Hoop comments, “AppLift’s team, technology platform and the synergies created through the HitFox Group and its portfolio companies quickly brought them ahead in the market. The closer we looked at AppLift, the more impressed we were. We saw the opportunity to invest in a leader within the fast-growing $10 billion mobile games market.”

Shane Horneij, Director of Performance Marketing at King states, “It’s great to see that AppLift has secured $13 million in this round of funding. They have been a great partner in driving large volumes of installs across Android and iOS while maintaining high quality users. We look forward to launching more titles with their team in the future.”