Korean online game developers MAIET Entertainment and WeMade Entertainment have both licensed Autodesk's Kynapse artificial intelligence middleware for their respective upcoming titles.

Used in more than 100 titles, Kynapse's AI technology for nonplayer characters helps simulate spatial reasoning, dynamic 3D pathfinding, environment perception, and large-crowd movement in complex terrains. Autodesk claims its software can improve team coordination while reducing development time and overall project costs.

MAIET will use the middleware with GunZ2: The Second Duel, while WeMade will implement Kynapse in a new MMORPG codenamed LF. Wemade says it chose the tech because it needed an Unreal Engine middleware solution that provided "efficient data generation processing for path finding, solid AI for nonplayer characters, and light run-time search cost".

"Developers around the world are facing increased competition, timeline pressures and narrow margins," says Autodesk's Marc Stevens. "Our middleware technology helps reduce development time and costs by offering solutions to common run-time challenges and minimizing redundant development efforts. It also enables studios to deliver more compelling games by allowing them to focus on what makes the game fun and unique.”

[Every other week, we examine the most popular Facebook games (according to monthly active users), looking at the top titles and developers on the social network to see who's attracting or losing players.]

In our last tally of the most popular Facebook games -- before a bug appeared in the social network's user reporting data, providing inaccurate headcounts for some applications -- Zynga dominated the top ten list with its titles taking seven spots.

Not much has changed in that respect with this latest chart, as super popular farming simulator FarmVille remains at the top with around 62 million users, only a few hundred thousand players more than its count over a month ago.

FrontierVille has enjoyed much growth, though, as it's now #2 with 36.8 million users, nearly doubling in size since late July. Texas Holdem Poker at #3 has also seen its audience swell in recent weeks, as its now has 32.9 million card players, likely boosted by the launch of a localized Traditional Chinese version last month.

The recent launch of its Las Vegas expansion has helped push Zynga's Mafia Wars to #4 with 25.1 million users playing. The mob game is followed by Zynga's Cafe World (22.5 million), Treasure Isle (16 million), and PetVille (14.3 million).

At #8, Mindjolt Games, a portal for more than a thousand casual titles, is the first non-Zynga app to appear on the chart with its 14 million players. Electronic Arts/Playfish's Pet Society at #9 (13.5 million) and PopCap's Bejeweled Blitz at #10 (12.5 million) fill out the rest of the top ten chart.

You can see the full list of the top 20 Facebook games along with exact monthly active user counts below:

Continue reading "Zynga's FrontierVille Marches Up Top Facebook Games" »

Independent online game developer and and publisher Artix Entertainment announced that its browser-based titles have brought in 110,136,863 registered accounts.

The small developer is based in Land O' Lakes, Florida and was founded in 2002. Its catalog includes three single-player online RPGs -- DragonFable, MechQuest, and AdventureQuest -- and two free-to-play MMOs, AdventureQuest Worlds and EpicDuel, the latter of which it acquired last December.

Artix reached this milestone just five months after its library hit the 100 million accounts mark, with more than 13 million of those registered for its Flash-based MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds. The company did not mention if it counts users who have registered for multiple games in its tally.

The studio has previously claimed that its titles receive an average of 35,000 new players each day, and has attributed that success to its release of weekly updates for all of its games and player-inspired content/modifications.

“We really need to release more interesting news than our user count," mused Artix Entertainment CEO Adam Bohn. "Maybe something about our new games we are creating, the bizarre store we are about to open, or maybe the movie project…"

Finnish social game developer Rocket Pack (Cats Vs. Dogs) has created a new development platform specifically designed for creating persistent browser games that don't require plugins.

The company describes its Rocket Engine as a "fully integrated toolkit for plugin-free browser game development." The company will bundle a components library and editing tools with the kit, which it also says includes live previews and support for multiple users, and will launch in Q4 2010.

Rocket Engine supports development for major browsers and social gaming platforms, including the iPhone, iPad and Android devices. It's described as a component-based toolkit, aimed to enable game developers to prototype quickly and develop their online games. It includes an online editor, which the company hopes will ease on-the-go editing, as it doesn't require coding.

"Our [studio] was used to professional tools such as the Unreal Engine or Unity3D," said Jiri Kupiainen, one of the founders of Rocket Pack. "But nothing existed for professional plugin-free browser game development, so we built it ourselves."

The company is developing its own social MMO called Cats vs. Dogs, which will be released later this year, and recently secured funding from the Nordic Game organization.

The development platform is integrated with the company's Rocket Network, which provides cloud services for MMO development including identity handling, virtual currencies and full tracking and reporting for custom metrics.

GDC Online organizers are reminding potential attendees that today is the last day to save up to 40% on passes to the October 5th-8th event in Austin, TX, fully detailing the comprehensive exhibit floor, Summits, keynotes, a PlayStation Home developer day and more.

The Austin, Texas based GDC Online conference -- formerly known as GDC Austin -- is mainly focused on the development of online games, including free-to-play titles, social network games, and traditional MMOs, with a veteran online game industry advisory board evaluating and selecting the lectures.

There are now more than 120 panels, lectures and tutorials currently scheduled for the event -- including the recently announced keynote from Civilization II designer and now Zynga chief game designer Brian Reynolds (FrontierVille), and just-debuted track keynotes from Blizzard on Battle.net, Raph Koster on social design trends, and European browser game giant BigPoint on its rise to success.

These lectures join a full set of highlighted lectures including Main Conference talks on October 6th-8th from Relic, Sony Online, Carbine, KingsIsle, IMVU, Disney, Playdom, BioWare Austin, Hangout Industries, Broken Bulb Studios, CCP, Gaia Online, Playfish, InstantAction, Ubisoft and a host of other notable companies at the leading worldwide online game-specific conference.

One of the other major advantages of attending GDC Online is the comprehensive list of nearly 90 exhibitors with whom attendees are able to get product demonstrations, meet, and interact on the vibrant GDC Online Expo Floor. These include major firms like Epic, Rackspace, Gaikai, Offerpal, Vindicia, Trinigy, ARIN, Versant, Rixty, Softlayer, and many other notable companies in the space.

Continue reading "Reminder: Last Day To Early Register For GDC Online" »

South Korean online game publisher NCsoft revealed that Guild Wars has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide since the episodic action MMORPG launched five year ago (When the firm last shared sales figures for the title in April 2009, Guild Wars had sold 6 million units).

Around half of those sales took place in Europe, the company told consumer site Joystiq. NCsoft noted that Guild Wars' largest regional audience is in Germany, where it allowed the public to play the PC MMO's upcoming sequel for the first time at Gamescom last month.

Developed by NCsoft subsidiary ArenaNet, the first Guild Wars episode released in April 2005, followed by two episodes, Factions and Nightfall, and the Eye of the North expansion. The company is currently working on Guild Wars 2 and says it intends to release the game "when it's done".

While gamers must first buy a Guild Wars episode to play the game, the MMO does not require monthly subscriptions to play (users cannot access some content without buying all of the episodes). Guild Wars 2 will feature a similar subscription-less model.

Retailer Target announced that it will be the first brick-and-mortar chain to sell gift cards for Facebook Credits, the social network's universal virtual currency system.

The gift cards, which are available in increments of $15, $25, and $50 (the $15 card will be exclusively available at Target) will begin rolling out to the retailer's more than 1,700 locations across the country on September 5th.

With the cards, Facebook users will be able to buy virtual currency and goods in over 150 social games and apps that support Credits, without needing to use a credit card or provide personal details. Many popular titles offer Credits as a payment option, including FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Bejeweled Blitz.

Prepaid cards for Facebook games are typically limited to a particular title or publisher -- Target also sells cards for individual titles and companies, like YoVille and Playdom -- but Credits are designed to provide a more portable alternative to those game/app- or publisher-specific virtual currencies.

Though the Credits system is still in beta, many major developers have already pledged to use the social network's universal virtual currency exclusively in their titles. Playdom, RockYou, and CrowdStar have gone so far as to sign five-year agreements with Facebook to only use Credits.

"At Target we strive to delight our guests with exciting, new products every day, so we're thrilled to be the first retailer to sell Facebook Credits gift cards," says Target's Merchandising SVP Mark Schindele.

Schindele adds, "With social gaming becoming increasingly popular, Facebook Credits gift cards provide an easy and convenient option for Target guests to purchase virtual goods."

Paris-based media and telecommunications giant Vivendi SA has today increased its profit expectations for 2010, despite reporting a drop in second-quarter net profit.

The company, which owns a 52 percent majority shareholding in video game publisher, Activision Blizzard Inc., said its profits for the second quarter ended June 30 slipped 3.7 percent to 669 million euros ($856.4 million) from 695 million euros ($889.7 million) last year.

But Vivendi said it still expects growth in earnings before income and taxes, and a higher adjusted profit than the one recorded in 2009, an increase it specifically puts down to growth in its video game division, aided by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and other titles at its Activision Blizzard unit.

Sales during the quarter were 7.06 billion euros ($9 billion), up 6.2 percent from 6.65 billion euros ($8.85 billion) for the same quarter a year prior.

Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of Vivendi said: "Our most recent strategic acquisitions, GVT, Activision Blizzard and SFR broadband and fixed, achieved excellent operating performances."

The publisher, created in 2008 when Vivendi bought a controlling stake in Activision Inc. and merged it with its Blizzard Entertainment business, grew faster than analysts had expected. Last month, it said it would buy back $1 billion in shares and pay its first dividend.

"Activision Blizzard had a much stronger performance than the year before,” Levy said. “The contribution of Activision Blizzard [to Vivendi] has become very significant.” The publisher, whose titles include Guitar Hero, World of Warcraft, and StarCraft II, had revenue of 3 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in 2009, accounting for 11 percent of total Vivendi sales.

Activision Blizzard has recently reaffirmed its calendar year 2010 outlook saying that it expects net revenues of $4.4 billion and $0.72 earnings per share.

Despite these positive projections, Vivendi remains locked in a U.S. legal battle with investors who say the company lied to them about its performance under former CEO Jean-Marie Messier. In January, a jury ruled investors were misled 57 times between 2000 and 2002. Vivendi is appealing the ruling, which the plantiffs’ law firm has reported could lead to $9.3 billion in damages.

In April of this year, mobile social network operator and game creator DeNA announced a partnership with Yahoo! Japan to launch a PC web-based gaming platform called Yahoo! Mobage. While developers have been allowed access since January, the Yahoo! Mobage service is now aiming for its public launch of the 1st of October.

Yahoo! Mobage provides services such as translation, hosting and monetization resources. DeNA is currently inviting American PC and mobile game developers to use a universal Mobage platform API to distribute their games to the Japanese market.

The platform offers the advantage of two user bases of significant size: Yahoo's 52 million monthly active web-based users and DeNA's 20 million active mobile users. Including other sources, it's believed that the Mobage platform will reach an average of 90 million Japanese internet users.

DeNA will also offer several forms of aid for interested developers, including partnerships with four companies to assist in game testing and translation, money transfers through international banks, and hosting through the leading Japanese service provider, IDC Frontier.

DeNA's CEO, Tomoko Namba, claims that the amount of money to be made in Japanese social gaming as "astronomical... by offering this platform and providing tools to help ease the transition, DeNA hopes to be American game developers' portal to the East," Namba says. Some Japanese developers on Mobage are already making an average of $1 million a month in their top games.

DeNA has seen significant gains in the social gaming market this year, with an 81 percent year-over-year increase to $205 million reported in its fourth quarter, partly due to the success of its self-created social game titles.

The Tokyo-based company launched in 1999 as an e-commerce business and later became a web service provider for PC and cell phone users. Its core social networking/virtual world platform Mobage-town currently has over 20 million members in Japan.