Rock You

RockYou Rocked By Layoffs as It Switches Focus To Social Games

nextupresearch1 — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 14:01:50 +0000

RockYou has had substantial layoffs this week, and has restructured the organization in the last couple of days. RockYou will continue to work on its advertising initiatives and will be directing most of its resources at developing social games

Non-retail video game sales hit $2.9 billion

nextupresearch1 — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 10:32:41 +0000

U.S. consumers spent up to $2.9 billion buying video games through mobile phones, social networks, downloads and subscriptions in the first half of the year according to research firm NPD. Sales of video game software and equipment fell 8 percent in September.Software sales fell 6 percent to $614 to million while hardware sales tumbled 19 percent to $383 million.Many customers are buying games through downloads or by visiting online social networks to play games offered by companies such as Zynga.Apple’s iPhone has also become a major gaming platform, with users buying games through the App Store.

The Internet Advertising Pie Is Still Growing

nextupresearch1 — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 14:02:33 +0000

A new report sponsored by the Internet Advertising Bureau paints a hopeful picture of the online ad landscape during the first six months of 2010. Ads earned a record $12.1B during that period, a new record and an 11.3% increase above revenues in the first six months of 2009. Drilling down a little, the second quarter of 2010 also saw record revenue of $6.2B

Social gaming sector braces for deal wave

nextupresearch1 — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:30:49 +0000

Among those eyeing the likes of Zynga or CrowdStar are Web powerhouses seeking to shore up their social networking credentials such as Google Inc and media giants such as News Corp or Viacom Inc seeking new marketing avenues, industry executives and analysts say.As online gaming continues to grow at double-digits — it became the No. 2 online activity in June — a growing number of corporations hoping to boost their Web presence have begun to take a serious look at the biggest players in social gaming, including oft-cited targets such as CrowdStar and Kabam.

RockYou launches Toy Land

nextupresearch1 — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:28:39 +0000

RockYou has launched a new social game Toy Land on Facebook. Even though Toy Land is a hodgepodge of virtual space, treasure hunting and board game elements, Toy Land is different from other games. The game is based on the concept of players acting as toymakers. Toy Land is a sort of children’s fantasy premise where cash is replaced by hearts and jobs by promises.

Offerpal Media names Mihir Shah as the New CEO

nextupresearch1 — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:25:13 +0000

Offerpal Media has named Mihir Shah as its new chief executive and president. Shah replaces George Garrick, who served as CEO since last fall. Garrick will become executive chairman. The company hired Shah, the former vice president of ad networks at RockYou, as its chief revenue officer in December. He began streamlining the company and broadened its appeal to advertisers by moving beyond offers. Offerpal also bought mobile ad network firm Tapjoy in March.

CrowdStar releasing entire social games catalog in Japan

nextupresearch1 — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:24:49 +0000

Social games developer CrowdStar announced an expansion of its partnership with Tokyo-based Drecom to release all of its titles in the Japanese market. CrowdStar believes that this agreement with Drecom accelerates its global strategy, allowing it to quickly tailor game content for Japanese preferences, test new game mechanics, and take advantage of partner marketing capabilities in the local mobile and online gaming market.

Google buys Slide for $182M

nextupresearch1 — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:45:01 +0000

Google has agreed to buy Slide for $182 million.Google had earlier invested in Zynga to form the cornerstone of Google Games. We at NeXtUp Research had estimated the valuation of Slide to be in the range $163 – $187M at a per share price of $1.37 – $1.56 in our report on Slide dated 29/7/2010.

Playdom Commits To Using Facebook Credits Exclusively For Five Years

nextupresearch1 — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:09:22 +0000

CrowdStar, Zynga, Lolapps and RockYou had earlier entered in to five year contract with Facebook to use Facebook Credits for all in-game virtual currency transactions. Playdom has signed a similar deal with Facebook and agreed to share 30 per cent of every transaction with Facebook.

RockYou signs a 5 year deal with Facebook and will use Facebook credits exclusively

nextupresearch1 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:32:22 +0000

RockYou entered in to a five year deal with Facebook and is likely to use Facebook Credits exclusively in all it s games and applications. The revenue sharing agreement is 70% of revenue obtained through virtual goods sales will go to RockYou and the remaining 30% will go to Facebook. Facebook had earlier entered in to a similar agreement with Zynga, CrowdStar and Lolapps. While CrowdStar and Lolapps have started using Facebook Credits exclusively in their games and applications, Zynga continues to use other alternatives in addition to Facebook Credits.