VirtualGoodsSummit
Latest
Angry Birds sequel will reveal pigs' point of view
Just when you thought that the frenzy over the popular iOS game Angry Birds had finally reached its peak, now comes word from the Virtual Goods Summit that the game's publisher plans on turning the franchise into an empire. Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka dropped the eggs spilled the beans yesterday when he mentioned that the game is going to be available on all major gaming platforms soon, not just on mobile devices. But the comment that got the most attention was that the Angry Birds sequel is in development and it won't focus solely on the irate avians. No, the sequel story line will be told from the point of view of the pigs, who have been the victims of the vicious attacks by the birds in Part One of this tale. Vesterbacka also confirmed that a movie and TV show are apparently in the works, and that most of Rovio's investment at the present time is going into a Facebook game. It won't be Angry Birds, but will take place in the same world as the ultra-popular game. Rovio is also working on a multiplayer version of Angry Birds, all part of Vesterbacka's plans for "Angry Birds to be bigger than Tetris." [via Pocket-Lint]
A look back at the sale of Wowhead.com
Now that we've had a few days to think about it, I think it's worth taking a bigger look at the Wowhead acqusition news that broke over the weekend. On Friday evening, a blogger named Ahmed Farooq posted that as a person who'd previously worked to acquire websites for goldseller IGE, he'd heard from "three different sources," all unnamed, that Wowhead had sold to Affinity Media for $1 million. That's when we reported on it, and more than a few other sites also picked up the story. We also were one of the first sites to report in conjunction that Affinity Media had supposedly sold IGE, and claimed they were no longer in the business of goldselling.On Saturday, Wowhead posted a confirmation on their site, and then this Q&A with their CEO and the head of Affinity Media, John Maffei. They claim to be "100% sure" that since Affinity reportedly sold IGE, Wowhead will never carry gold ads. Farooq, the original tipster, posted an update on his site that says Affinity was "still very much involved with IGE," but Wowhead's Q&A says "the individual who leaked the story about the Wowhead sale" (apparently Farooq) also "owns competitive content properties," including a real-money trading (goldselling) site, and calls the act of that person spreading rumors about Wowhead "the height of hypocrisy." By all appearances, Affinity Media is no longer associated with IGE at all, and at the moment, the proof is in the pudding: there are currently no gold ads on Wowhead or Thottbot.As for IGE, this report about the CEO at the Virtual Goods Summit makes it seem as though there are stormy waters ahead for their company and the entire gold selling market.
